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Are Today's Families Changing?

         Families are being restructured today, by the economy, by moral values, by political correctness, by prolonged immaturity. Some of the changes are for the good; some are bad. The absence of strong males in the home is one of the negatives. However, the traditional family is still a strong presence and may be making a comeback.

         Granted, serial marriages have forced families to mix more than ever over the last half-century. It's nothing new, just more common. Other factors include test tube babies, the lack of adoptable children, and gay couples having legal rights. Some neighborhoods and ethnic groups discourage birth control and see extra children as a means to gain more income. They don't have any stigma to being single mothers with 5 kids with 5 different fathers. That's not limited to one or two racial groups. These women feel like someone else is supposed to support them, and have learned not to expect help from the fathers.

         At the same time, the economy is forcing several generations of grown-ups to opt to live together for more security, financial support, and shared responsibilities. It allows the grandparents the ability to stay in their own homes safely longer, the middle generation to look for new jobs or save money, and the children in high school or college or first jobs longer to get on their feet. They manage without any murders or other crimes, and claim to even enjoy it. 

         Yes, there may be some new type families out there, grandparents raising grandkids, for instance. But the old ones are still there, too. Don't be anxious to throw the baby out with the bathwater.