BellRinger What is the typical American family??

Sec. 2 Family and Marriage in the United States

American Families Tend To Have These Patterns 1. Families are Nuclear 2. Families are Bilateral 3. Families are Democratic (parents share decision making equally) 4. Families are Neolocal (lives apart from other families) 5. Families are monogamous.

Romantic Love and Marriage 83% of Americans said, “being in love” as the most vital reason to marry. Not all countries believe that. People may marry for: 1. Money 2. Advance in a career 3. Feel like they have been single for too long and they are pressured into marriage. “A marriage based only on love is almost sure to fail.”

Rates Marriage Rate 9 people got married per 1,000 persons That’s 2,736,000 people that get or 1% of the population In 2000, 57% of people were married Divorce Rate 5 people got divorced per 1,000 That’s 1,520,000 people divorced In 2000 – 11% of people in Kentucky were divorced.

Why do people divorce? Age of people – the older you are when you get married, the less likely you’ll divorce. Years of marriage – the longer you’re married, the less likely you’ll divorce. Quality of Relationship – the more respect and trust between partners, the less likely you’ll get divorced.

4 things in society that cause divorce 1. Divorce rate goes up during economic prosperity and goes down when times are hard. 2. Baby Boomer generation does not believe that divorce is “that bad” 3. Increasing financial independence of women. 4. Society is more forgiving of divorce and marriage is not always “forever”