American family

1. Families have existed for about 300,000 years now, continually changing with the times. Still, the lifestyle of the contemporary American familyhorrifies some foreigners. They describe it this way: "Young children are inday care centers.Teenagers are often in trouble. Mothers are at work.Divorced fathersrarely see their children.Widowed grand­parentslive alone. Great‑grandparents live innursing homes. “Don't American family members love each other andtake care of each other?'

2. Yes, they do. The American family still cares aboutandcares forits members, but in new ways. American children, for example, may spend less time withrelatives than children did in the past. Nevertheless, families stillgive childrentheirmost important experiences and valuesas well as their most enduring relationships.

3. Most families consist of a mother, a father, and a maximum of two children living at home. There may be relatives—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in‑lawsin the same community, but American families usually maintain separate households. This familial structure is known as the"nuclear family"or immediate family. It is unusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife and children to live together. Oc­casionally an aging grandparent may live with the family, but this ar­rangement is usually not considered desirable. Although the nuclear family unit is economically independent of the rest of the family, mem­bers of the whole family group oftenmaintain close kinship ties. Visit­ing between parents and their married children and between married sisters and brothers is frequent when they live close to each other. If they live in different communities, they keep in touch by writing letters and by telephone.

WHO'S AT HOME?

4. Americans are like most people: when they grow up, they eventu­ally leavethefamily of their childhood and form their own families. About 71% of Americans live with people that they'rerelated to by blood or marriage. Of the 91.5 millionhouseholdsin the USA, 65 million are families. Most other households consist of one person living alone. Only 9% of householdsare made up of people who are not related.

5. Today's typical American family is not the traditional one with Daddy at work, Mommy in the kitchen, and several children playing in the backyard. Approximately 51% of American families have no childrenunder the age of 18living at home. Because of thehigh divorce rateand the large number of childrenborn out‑of‑wedlock, 24% (15 million) of American children live with only one parent, usually their mother. Pre­dictions are that 60% of today's Americanyoungsterswill spend at least part of their childhood in aone‑parent household.

5. The contemporary American child doesn't have a lot of companion­ship from brothers and sistersbecause the average family has only one or two children. With so manywomen working full‑time, five or six millionpreteenscome home from school to an empty house, while others go toafter‑school centersto avoid being alone. Because of the high divorce rate and the trend toward having fewer children the American household is now smaller than it has ever been, down to a statistical average of 2.6 people.

5. Most American children live with their parents at least until they finish high school at age 17 or 18. Then, many go away to college, leaving some parents sad and lonely in their empty nest and others enjoying their release from parental responsibilities. However, many youngsingle adultsstay with their parents during their college years or return homeafter graduation. The high cost of housing keeps many young adults in their parents' home until theyget married.

5. Today's parents cannot even be sure that their married children have moved outforever. After a divorce, adults may return to the parental hometemporarily or even on a long‑term basis especially if they are lonely,short of money, orin need of baby-sitting grandparents.

5. Although adult children sometimes come home to Mom and Dad, middle‑agedandelderly peopleseldommove in withtheir grown chil­dren. Older peopletake pride in their independence, enjoy their freedom, and do not wantto be a burden totheir children. The telephone, the car, and the airplanekeep them in close contacteven when they live in different parts of the country.

5. In the USA, it's common for a family to span four generations. In this aging population, the average American is 32 years old, and a newborn babyhas a life expectancy of 75 years. About 30 million Ameri­cans—12% of the nation's population—are 65 or older and the nation's over‑85 population is increasing rapidly.

5. Senior citizensare often thought of as two different groups—the "young old'(ages 65 to 75) and the "old old"(over 75). The younger senior citizensare often quite activeworking part‑time, traveling,en­joying leisure activitieswith friends, and traveling across the country to visit their children and grandchildren.

5. But what about the “old old"? Sometimes, foreigners mistak­enly conclude that Americans simply leave their elderly relatives in nursing homes and forget about them (Actually, only about 6% of today's senior citizens live in nursing homes; however experts predict that 20% to 25% of Americans alive today will reside in a nursing home at some time in their lives.) For elderly people who are ill orhandi­capped, a nursing home may bethe only alternativebecause their daughters anddaughters‑in‑laware working, and there is no one home during the day to care for them. Family members usually select a nursing home that is nearby so that they can visit often.

5. In many communities,retirement facilitieshave been devel­opedto provide living quarters forolder people who do not need constant nursing care but who can no longerhandle the burden of shopping and cookingfor themselves. Other senior citizens choose to move to the Sun Belt, one of the southern or southwestern states, where the climate is milder. But wherever they are, they are part of a family that has not forgotten them.

5. The mobility of Americans works against the family unit by sometimes placing thousands of miles between people who once shared the same dinner table. But family members hop into a car or onto a plane to come together for the major turning points in each others' lives. Birthdays, graduations, marriages, anniversaries, and funerals allreunite families. Family parties may be all the morejoyouswhen they bring together relatives who haven't seen each other for a while.