the american family: a changing portrait• today many people are older when they first marry than...

The American Family: A

Changing Portrait

Julia M. Becerra

Shelley M. MacDermid

POP QUIZ TIME!!!

Center for Families

• Today we will explore the American

family together.

• Your computer should be at the Center for

Families website at this time.– http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/projects/current_projects/family

_data/presidents_council.html.

– If you need help, let us know!

http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/projects/current_projects/family_data/presidents_council.html

Pop Quiz Question 1

• True or False?

– The divorce rate in the United States has

increased in the last 10 years.

This statement is FALSE

Where can we check this?

• U.S. Census report on Vital Statistics

• Click on the link titled

Vital Statistics• Then click on the right arrow twice to go to page 4

• No. 83, Live Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/03statab/vitstat.pdf

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Marriages

Divorces

In 1950, the

‘popular’

divorce rate

was 25%

In 2000, the

‘popular’

divorce rate

was 48%Number

per

thousand

people

• Today many people are older when they

first marry than in the past.

• In 2004, the median age at first marriage

was 25.8 years for women and 27.4 for

men. In the last 30 years, the median age

has risen more than 4 years for both

women and men.

<http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/hh-fam/ms2.pdf>

Did you know?

Click the back arrow at the top of

your browser to return to the Center

for Families website.

http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/projects/current_projects

/family_data/presidents_council.html


Pop Quiz Question 2

• True or False?

• The most common household size from

1990-2000 was 2 people.

This statement is TRUE.

• Click on the link titled America’s Families andLiving Arrangements (2003).

• Click the arrow to the right twice to get toFigure 3.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-553.pdf

Did you know?

Non-family Households

Family Households




http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/projects/current_projects/

family_data/presidents_council.html


Pop Quiz Question 3

• True or False?

• In 2000, about half of all U. S. households

were married couple households.

This statement is TRUE.

What the research tells us

• Click the link titled American

Community Survey.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-

_box_head_nbr=R1101&-ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-

redoLog=false&-format=US-30&-

mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_R0106_US30&-CONTEXT=grt

• Top 10 States

Utah 61.5%

Idaho 56.3%

New Hampshire 54.3%

Hawaii 53.4%

Wyoming 53.4%

Iowa 53.2%

Kansas 52.7%

Minnesota 52.7%

West Virginia 52.5%

Nebraska 52.4%

Percent of Households that are

Married-Couple Families

• Top 10 states– Utah 61.5%

– Idaho 56.3%

– New Hampshire 54.3%

– Hawaii 53.4%

– Wyoming 53.4%

– Iowa 53.2%

– Kansas 52.7%

– Minnesota 52.7%

– West Virginia 52.5%

– Nebraska 52.4%

• Bottom 10 states– Vermont 48.5%

– South Carolina 48.2%

– Florida 47.9%

– New Mexico 47.9%

– Massachusetts 47.6%

– Nevada 47.5%

– Rhode Island 46.8%

– Mississippi 46.5%

– Louisiana 45.9%

– New York 44.9%

– District of Columbia 21.8%

http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/adherents.gif




http://www.cfs.purdue.edu/CFF/projects/current_projects/

family_data/presidents_council.html


Pop Quiz Question 4

• True or False?

• In 2001, most children in the United States

lived in a 2 parent household.

This is TRUE.

Where do we go to answer this

question?

• Click on the link Living Arrangements of

Children (2001)

• Click on right arrow twice to get to Figure 1.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p70-104.pdf

Pop Quiz Question 5

• True or False?

• The number of grandparents raising

grandchildren has increased in recent

years.

It is TRUE and FALSE.

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

3,500,000

4,000,000

4,500,000

5,000,000

5,500,000

6,000,000

1990 1997 2000 2005

Grandparents

living with

grandchildren

Grandparents

sole custody

What the research tells us about

today’s grandparents…

• Clink on the link Grandparents Raising

Grandchildren.

• Click right arrow once to get to Table 1.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-31.pdf

Pop Quiz Question 6

• True or False

• The percentage of babies born to teen

mothers has continued to climb.

•This state is FALSE.

Where do we go to find out?

• Click on link titled Teenage Mothers.

• Scroll down to the third bullet.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/05facts/prelimbirths04.htm

Did you know?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004

Percentage of

teenage mothers

Percentage of

unmarried mothers

% of

births

Pop Quiz Question 7

• True or False?

• The elderly of this country are the most

likely age group to be in poverty.

•This statement is FALSE.

What the research tells us..

• Click on the link titled Over 65 andpoverty.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=R1703&-

ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-format=US-30&-mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_R1704_US30&-

CONTEXT=grt

• Now, let’s look at the children living under

the poverty level.

• Click on link titled Children and poverty.

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTTable?_bm=y&-

geo_id=01000US&-_box_head_nbr=R1704&-

ds_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_&-redoLog=false&-format=US-

30&-mt_name=ACS_2005_EST_G00_R1703_US30&-

CONTEXT=grt

Did you know?

Of the 17.6% of children living

in poverty in 2001….

• Living with married parents 10.1%

• Living with both unmarried parents 27.4%

• Living with a single mother 36.7%

• Living with a single father 16.4%

Pop Quiz Question 8

• True or False?

• The median family income (for a family of

four) has gone down in recent years.

This statement is FALSE.

• Click on the link titled Family Income.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/4person.html

http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/socioecon/med_fam_income.gif

• There are so many changes in our society

that are shaping families today.

• We have already touched on marriage,

divorce, parenting, household sizes and

types, poverty and incomes.

• What else is changing?

Did you know?

• 7,918

Number of people turning 60 each day in 2006,

according to projections. That amounts to 330

every hour.<http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/>

2.1

The number of workers for each Social Security

beneficiary in 2031, when all baby boomers will

be over age 65. Currently, there are 3.3 workers

for each Social Security beneficiary.Source: Social Security Administration, at

<http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/basicfact.htm>

Family Decline vs. Family

Diversity

• This debate has been going on for over a

century.

• Emile Durkheim began looking at whether

families were in decline in 1892.

• But decline in a family is hard to measure,

and there is an abundance of evidence

suggesting that the changing diversity

present is BOTH positive and negative.

What do we know about the

American family?• The American family today can be:

– two married or cohabitating parents with children,

– two married or cohabitating people without children,

– one parent and children,

– two parents of the same sex and children,

– one parent and one stepparent and their children,

– grandparents and children,

– relatives raising children,

– siblings only,

– non related parents and children

– or any other variation that combines the aforementioned

combinations.

The Center for Families

The Center for Families fosters a

commitment to strengthening thecapacity of families to provide anurturing environment for theirmembers. It serves as a catalystfor initiating and integratingoutreach, teaching, and researchactivities that support families.

The Center for Families

• Currently we are working on work/family

issues, particularly with military families.

• Recent projects include:

– ACT (Adults and Children Together Against

Violence)

– TIME project

– Life History Mapping Project

– Family Impact Seminars

– And new partnerships (Minnesota National Guard and

Department of Veteran Affairs, and Sesame Street)

Questions?

• [email protected]

• [email protected]

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