Decline of the Family: Conservative, Liberal,

and Feminist Views by Janet Zollinger Giele

(Giele, Janet Z. "Decline of the Family: Conservative, Liberal, and Feminist Views." Marriage in
America. Ed. D. Popenoe, J.B. Elshtain, and D. Blankenhorn. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and
Littlefield, 1996. 89-115)

Family breakdown: Causes and Consequences, and

Remedies
The Conservative Model

Causes:
1. Cultural and Moral Weakening:
Undermining norms of sexual abstinence
Permissiveness of adultery and divorce
Obscure and simple notions of right and wrong
Diminished role of tradition
Impersonal non-trusting relations
Migration and ethnic values
Diminished role of fathers

2. Government Welfare:
Makes Fatherless Families a viable option
Breakdown of 2-parent family
Children in Poverty

Consequences:
Father absence
School failure
Poverty
Crime
Drug use

Conservative Solutions:
Cut welfare programs which support alternative family forms
Cultural support of two-parent families/ make other types of families
less attractive and more difficult
Sense of shame about illegitimacy and divorce
Sexual abstinence before marriage and fidelity afterwards
Full-time Mothers
Fatherhood revitalization/ Child’s right to have a father
Childbearing confined to marriage
Reduce overall working hours of both parents
Role of Communities and Churches

The Problem with Marriage by Steven Nock

Marriage is an institution with agreed upon values, benefits and
responsibilities. It guides family life and the behavior of married
couples and the society interacting with them.
Traditional marriage is the best known model for successful and
responsible child caring.
Six Ideals define the Successful Marriage:
Individual free choice
Maturity
Heterosexuality
Husband as Head
Fidelity and Monogamy
Parenthood

The Liberal Model

Changing Economic Structure -> Changing Family (Traditional to Modern Family)

-> Poverty, Father absence, School Failure, Crime, Drug

Causes: Structural Changes

Market forces intruding family life
Need of 2 paychecks to support family
Reduced trust among family members
Loss of Jobs; Unemployed fathers
New jobs are mostly in service sector favoring women
Positive effects of market forces
Gender roles changing
Demographic Changes

Consequences on Children:
Children in Poverty
Breakdown of 2-parent family
Economic hardship on families

Liberal Solutions:
More government programs that could assure justice and a safety net
for families
More tax credits for all families / reduce tax incentives that breakup
families
Support all kinds of family forms
Parental leave programs
More Jobs for family members / Job trainings
Raise wages
Universal Health care system for children
Better schools

The Feminist Model

Lack of Integrated Communities:

Role of Individualism
Lack of concern for all citizens
Lack of Support to alternative family forms
Devalued of care activities
Inequality in wages among men and women
Rigid gender roles at home
Second shift for women
Lack of flexibility at the office
Lack of supports to children
Unpaid and limited parental leaves
Minimum Day care services

Feminist Solutions:
Marriage is not solution to children poverty; care and support for
children is.
Support all types of family forms
Universal Supports for children
Focus more on family functions than family forms
Paid Parental leaves / longer periods
Day Care
Flexible gender roles and expectations
Service to community

Family perspectives are ideas that have consequences, that is, they are
often translated into laws, policies, and resources.
These laws and policies affect our own family lives.
The remedies/solutions to family problems as well as the agencies that
would bring about such changes are often the result of your thinking
and your perspective on the family.

The Family Is Changing

Structural changes: the family is changing due to structural changes in
society and in long-standing family patterns. There is little empirical
evidence that family change is synonymous with family decline.

Women in the labor force: the number of married women in the labor
force doubled between 1930 and 1980 but quadrupled between 1900
and 1904 . But the mother who works outside the home is not a new
phenomenon. Mothers sold dairy products and woven goods during
colonial times, took in boarders around the turn of the twentieth
century, and held industrial jobs during World War II.

Family problems: family problems such as desertion, out-of-wedlock

birth, single-parent families, and child abuse have always existed.
Family literature published in the 1930s, for example, included studies
that dealt with such issues as divorce, desertion, and family crises due
to discord, delinquency, and depression.

Divorce: there is no question, however, that a greater proportion of

people divorce today than in the past and that more early marriages
are ending in divorce and, as a result, many singles to postpone
marriage until they are older, more mature and have stable careers.

Family strength: Families are changing but are also remarkably

resilient, despite numerous adversities. They cope with everyday
stresses and protect their most vulnerable members: the young, old,
ill, or disabled. They overcome financial hardships. They handle
everyday conflict and tension as children make a bumpy transition to
adolescence and then to early adulthood.

Economic stress: most poor families have stable and loving

relationships despite constant worries and harsh economic
environments.
Discrimination: in spite of prejudice and discrimination, many gay and
lesbian families are also resilient and resourceful in developing
successful family relationships.

Role of Fathers by David Popenoe

Culture of Fatherlessness is most significant trend in our times:
- Fathers as not necessary
- As Seconds to mothers
- Fathers as breadwinners only
Paternal Deprivation is a form of Child Abuse, a violation of the rights
of children.

The Family Is Stronger than Ever

The modern family: more loving than in the past. Consider the
treatment of women and children in colonial days: If they disobeyed
strict male authority, they were often severely punished. And, in
contrast to some of our sentimental notions, only a small number of
white, middle-class families enjoyed a life that was both gentle and
genteel.

Multigenerational relationships: the recent growth of the older

segment of the population has produced four-generation families so
that many people have living grandparents, feel closer to them, and
often receive both emotional and economic support from these family
members as well as more children and grandchildren grow up knowing
and enjoying their older relatives.

Family equality: families have more equitable roles at home and are
more tolerant of diverse family forms (such as single-parent homes,
unmarried couple homes, and families with adopted children).

Family commitment: most Americans believe that marriage is a lifetime

commitment that should end only under extreme circumstances, such
as domestic violence.

Quality time: despite a sharp increase in the number of two-income

families, in 1997 children between the ages of 3 and 12 spent, on
average, about 3 to 5 more hours a week with their parents than they
did in 1981. The time spent together included activities such as
reading, playing, conversing, and being in the same room while a
parent did household tasks.