Is Today’s Family in Crisis?

In comparison to divorce rate, the 1950’s was way better off. According to divorcerate.org, the divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%, the divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%, and the divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73% which is extremely bad. Rebellion and a diminishing desire to be like everyone else has died down. Individuality and diversity is influenced in today’s society. One reason why the divorce rate is increasing rapidly is because women have become independent and can now support themselves if necessary. Today’s children are more rebellious in comparison to the 50’s child. In today’s society, the influence of drugs, broken up families, and not enough guidance in life have hurt the American household. While some believe that divorced families have a higher chance of becoming dysfunctional, there is no set in stone answer. In my opinion, as long as divorce is dealt with in a mature healthy way and the child has people in his/her life that take the place of parental figures, divorced families are no different from a married couple. The one key fact is that many families do not deal with divorce the right way. Argument over custody, physical abuse and bribery are a part of a typical divorce. A healthy divorce would include talking to the child about the situation in a mature manner.

Based on my knowledge of the 1950’s family, and my experience with modern families, households were better off in the 1950’s. There can’t be a single-handed reason because many factors have led to the destruction of the American family. In the 1950’s, almost all couples stayed together, teen pregnancy was nowhere near close to a major issue, there was balance in the household, teens didn’t act for much freedom or rebel as much, and believe it or not, trying to keep up with the Jones’ kept a lot of families together. In today’s society, people get divorced at any time, people rush into marriages often, and teen pregnancy is a major issue. Almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15-19 become pregnant according to USTP stats. Teens crave independency in today’s society which is bad for the most part. A majority of teens don’t do anything productive with their independency which is why I believe that the 1950’s family was better off.