For The Child
February 08, 2006

Family Formation

The traditional family, now mostly a relic of the past, consists of a married couple—a stay-at-home mom and a working dad, who lives together with their biological children. But while married couples with children represented 78 percent of all households in the 1950s¹, now, married-with-children households rank third in the national totals at 24 percent.² For the first time ever, there are a variety of household structures other than that of a married couple with children.

So we know, for a fact, that the times have changed. Realistically, a family is no longer what we’ve been taught to idealize as a tree with branches for one mother, one father, and their offspring. Nowadays, families have evolved to include structures that were uncommon decades earlier, including households with same-sex parents, adopted children, a single parent, and etc. Last year, PBS conducted a survey about what a family is considered in America and results found that Americans have a broad meaning for what constitutes a family. The study revealed that most people believe that "family" means love, togetherness, and caring for loved ones. But that doesn’t mean that the traditional family no longer exists. In fact, one-third of the sample group, still define a family as a “mother, father, and children,” or “a husband, wife and children.”

But the PBS survey also found several opinions that lead us to the conclusion that Americans are slowly, but consistently embracing diversity. We can see this theory unfold before us as the American public itself diversifies its living arrangements. See if you and your family’s beliefs and choices are similar to the research results.

• Americans view "family" as a personal area to be defined according to the family itself.
• Americans believe that the government should not be able to pass laws to prohibit specified relationships from being considered a family.
• A vast majority said they would reject an amendment that would ban both same-sex marriages and domestic-partner benefits for unmarried government employees.
• 82 percent of people do not think that the government should take part in marriage promotion.
72 percent of respondents in "traditional" families also oppose marriage promotion propaganda.
• Although 80 percent believe that "it is better for children if their parents are married," most respondents respect alternative relationship choices.
• About 50 percent of respondents felt that it is acceptable for a couple to live together without intending to get married.
• Public support for a flexible definition of “family” has extended over to the corporate sector that now supports an expanded definition of "family" in terms of job benefits in the private sector.
• Over 50 percent agreed with the statement that "love is what makes a family, and it doesn‘t matter if parents are gay or straight, single or married."

We know that the mind set of most Americans is moving in the same direction of our ultimate goal: to encourage everyone to celebrate what we all share and to respect diversity. The survey results are a positive reinforcement for our efforts to pass on the wisdom of embracing differences to our children. Moving forward, we need to continue to pro-actively, but patiently find ways to keep raising our children to be open-minded and self-confident.

To sum up the central topic we will be discussing for the coming months is that whatever way a family is defined, a family is a family and nobody has the right to discriminate against people who are from non-traditional backgrounds. All of our differences make each and one of us unique. Though we may know this, it is, again, our responsibility to teach our children the very ideals we believe in.

Next month, we’ll be delving deeper into this topic of family formation by talking to parents and teachers about their views on family issues. We’ll be learning about whether family formation changes interaction between family members, how parents may help their children come to terms with their family structures, and other issues including what we all can learn from our children’s perspective.

What do you define as a family? One survey answer was “a family is a group of people that love and care for you, and they give you the things that you need to live.” Click here to read other responses.

We’ll be gathering a list of the first 10 answers from our readers and sharing them on our site in a few days, so please send us your opinions now!

¹ Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research Inc.
² American Demographics