From: "Steve Ewing" 

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 02:43:40 -0800, Ellen K.
 wrote:

> First of all, like it or not, nuclear marriage is the bedrock of the
> economy.

Interesting...

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0201/opinion/blankenhorn.html
(Jan. 2002)
=====
As if it didnƒ ™t have enough to fret about, the twoƒ “parent American
family got taken for quite a ride in the past year. First, in April the
Census Bureau dramatically reported that the "nuclear family" was
"rebounding." The pageƒ “one story in USA Today announced:
"The traditional nuclear familyƒ ” a married mom and dad living with
their biological childrenƒ ”is making a comeback, according to a Census
report released today. The proportion of the nationƒ ™s children living
with both biological parents jumped from 51 percent in 1991 to 56 percent .
. . in 1996." On ABC World News Tonight, Peter Jennings declared:
"The Census Bureau said today that the number of children who live
with both their parents increased during the 1990s." Scores of news
organizations around the country reported the same happy story.

But in May, the story reversed itself. Journalists across the country began
to report that "nuclear families" now constitute less than 25
percent of all U.S. households. An editorial in the New York Post announced
that "the American nuclear family" was now "up there with
the Pacific salmon as an endangered species." A Newsweek cover story
on unmarried mothers ("the new faces of Americaƒ ™s family
album") explained at length how the "traditional family" was
"fading fast." Dr. James Dobson, the radio personality and
president of Focus on the Family, an influential Christian proƒ “family
organization, said that the "alarming" Census Bureau figures
revealed "just how dire the situation has become," as "the
family is unraveling at a faster pace than ever." The New York Times
took a sunnier view. Following up on its pageƒ “one news story
("Number of Nuclear Families Drops as 1ƒ “Parent Families Rise"),
the Times editorial board urged its readers not to worry about the decline,
since "the nuclear family is not the only kind of family or even the
only healthy kind of family."

Well, now. Is it possible for the nuclear family to be simultaneously
"making a comeback" and "fading fast"? Of course not.
So which is true? Amazingly enough, the answer is neither. What is actually
happening to U.S. family structure is quite different from the news
conveyed by either cycle of stories.
=====

--
Steve 
http://www.qmss.com/sewing

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