o Evolving family work and consumption societal changes o Evolving family Age at which people marry has gone up but marriage rate has declined in general Marry for love now not for More women are in college than men of kids per family has decreased average of people per household was o 3 67 in 1960 o 3 19 in 1985 o 2 56 in 2008 more than of families in 2008 had no kids of their own younger than 18 at home o an additional 20 of families had only 1 child of their own at home younger than 18 in general the average married woman at the start of the 20th cent had 5 kids o Today the average of total births to an ever married woman b w ages 15 55 has declined to 1 8 Marital delay and smaller family size tie together since couples have less kids if they wait till they re older to wed Teens who come from small families enjoy more pros o Their rents are more likely to give ample attention care to each kid o They have a greater chance to continue higher education since parents resources aren t as stretched as they would be with more kids o CON however they have less siblings to interact with those who wait till their mid 20s to marry have a greater chance of marital success than those who wed earlier earlier are more likely to divorce median age of married men in 1970 was 23 2 and in 2008 it was 27 4 for women it was 20 8 in 1970 and 27 6 in 2008 more than 1 3 of the men and of the women in the U S have not married by age 30 reasons for delaying marriage include o increase in permissiveness toward premarital sex o more need opportunities for higher education o decreased negative attitudes toward singlehood o increase in nonmarital cohabitation adolescents who do eventually marry will spend more years as single adults than those in previous generations they ll spend more years living alone with their parents with nonmarital partners platonic roommates o work and consumption Parents are working longer hours Many are forced into overtime by employers Americans in general spend more time working and less vacation time than most of their European counterparts Longer hours cuts down on family time and the quality thereof Internet has decreased work day work at home Affects the quantity and quality People can check email and messages on the go on cell phones and tablets today less distinction b w work and leisure due to this Increased employment of women including moms In 2007 59 of women worked outside the home 71 with kids ages 6 17 were employed and 63 with kids under age 6 Single moms were even more likely to be employed than married moms This increase has led to a need for child care older kids taking care of younger ones Increased adolescent employment o Leading to increase in teen ads of items like Cosmetics Clothes Technology o The average teen girl spends more time shopping than either adult it is 54x year 90 min trip Nearly 3 million 15 17 yo s are employed during school year and 4 million during the summer o societal changes prolongation of adolescence o These teens work an average of 17 hours a week during school time and 29 hours a week during summer o Many teens waste their paychecks on fast food and concert tickets and other recreational things o Also they are less likely than their nonworking peers to get good sleep and exercise More materialistic 2 3 of teens have a TV in their bedroom o leading to more teen consumption i e buying power materialism is high in early and mid teens since the 1970s solos full entrance into adulthood has been more and more delayed as youth have taken longer to complete their education settle on a career move out of their parent s home marry and have kids More reasons o More skills are needed to get a good job o Increased societal permissiveness toward premarital o Cheap effective birth control o Parents more willing to continue supporting their sex kid longer Others enter emerging adulthood where they lead a life midway between that of teens and young adults 60 of teens say they visit internet at least once a day 1 3 say they go several times per day teens can visit the same websites and participate in things like online competitive games chat rooms and more internet has many widespread pros such as pictures and music listening and staying in touch with others through various communication formats there are hazards though o inappropriate sexual material o violent and destructive material things like bomb recipes and prejudiced gangs ideas internet social media need for more education o creation of virtual selves like on gaming but could be helpful or harmful o increased gap between rich and poor o cyberbullying through social media expanding tech and social complexity have increased need for higher education it is vital that teens graduate from HS and college to get good well paying job o 85 HS graduates o more specialized skill required and are taught in school dependency on parents has gone up b c of this o in 2008 more than 2 3 of single men b w ages 18 24 lived with rents at home and 63 of women this age did too family make up teens have grown up today in a time when the fulfillment of romantic love and companionship are considered primary reasons to get married o nonmarital cohabitation today more o out of wed lock births o Divorce is more common now kids of teen parents more apt to life issues poor prenatal care low quality schools etc teens spend more time with mother figure than father and usually can be found in a step family situation with a new step parent o shifts from patriarchal households to more matriarchal feminism movement based homes bc of better education job economic freedom and sexual equality capability opps for women more democracy in families shifting sexual values practices o acceptance of sexual desires teens more open and less guilty about this can talk with others than their rents too o scientific knowledge about sexual function arousal response expression escaped old philosophy that sex is woman s duty and man s pleasure o contraceptives new forms for pleasure s sake too now not just procreation pills implants spermicides condoms diaphragms patches less invasive sterilization techniques help people plan families instead of having kids by chance and also influenced solos to be more sexually active outside of marriage more awareness of rape and sexual violence people who are victims are more open to discussion now o flexible gender roles equality and less gender stereotyping i e for jobs like childcare and housework men do
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