“To be sure, changes in American family structure have been fairly continuous since the first European settlements, but today thesechanges seem to be occurring so rapidly that the shift is no longer a simple extension of long-term trends. We have passed a genuine watershed: this is the first time in our history that the typical school-age child has a mother who works outside the home.” FirstsChildrenLongHas BeensHomeSeemsAgeTodaySchoolMotherTermChangeWorkSimpleFirst TimeStructureWork OutGenuineLong TermTrendsTypicalExtensionsSettlementAmerican FamilyWatersheds Book:All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure Source: All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure
“In the past the intrinsic pleasures of parenthood for most American families were increased by the extrinsic economic return thatchildren brought. Today, parents have children despite their economic cost. This is a major, indeed a revolutionary, change.” ChildrenTodayPastParentPleasureEconomicReturnCostMajorsDespiteRevolutionaryParenthoodAmerican FamilyRevolutionary Change Book:All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure Source: All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure
“The most important difference between these early American families and our own is that early families constituted economic unitsin which all members, from young children on up, played important productive roles within the household. The prosperity of the whole family depended on how well husband, wife, and children could manage and cultivate the land. Children were essential to this family enterprise from age six or so until their twenties, when they left home.” WellsChildrenImportantWholeHomeAgeYoungLeftDifferencesRolesWifeEconomicLandHusbandMembersEssentialsSixTwentiesProsperityManageEnterpriseProductiveHouseholdYoung ChildrenWhole FamilyAmerican FamilyHusband Wife Book:All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure Source: All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure
