Introducing “The Fall of the Family”: What It’s About and My Planned Accomplishments
Hello everyone! In leu of a what could be a predictably boring blog, covering some civic issue many of you would grant merely a cursory read to, I have decided to dig deeper into the roots of civic issues facing the United States and offer an intriguing and unbeknownst topic: The Fall of the Family. My first objective with this blog is to open a trove of major statistical and paradigm shifts regarding marriage, fatherlessness, declining faith and its impact on the family, and more. I then plan to sift through and provide analysis on those facets, hoping to conclude, with determinacy, the role of the collapsed nuclear family in various issues facing the United States.
Before cracking down on a particular issue, I would first like to introduce the six types of family structures, according to BetterHelp, a social impact company who often do therapy work with members of families during various crises. On the list as the most common type in the United States, although on evident decline, is the nuclear or traditional family, consisting of two parents (generally married) who raise biological or adopted kids together. The second type is a single-parent family, which consists of a father or mother raising children on their own due to a divorce, never marrying, or being widowed. The third type, although less common in some cultures than others, consists of parents, single or married, living with their own parents (the grandparents of the children) to give extra care to the children. The fourth type, often left out but becoming more common by choice, are childless families, formed due to an inability to have children or a decision not to. The final two types are stepfamilies and grandparent families, which are merged families and grandparents raising their grandchildren respectively.
It is doubtful that each of these types will be referenced, but it gives you an idea of how diverse the family structures are in the United States and introduces each of them.
With a limited word count remaining, I am opting to introduce and give a brief overview of the first topic to be explored in this civic issue blog: the rise of single-parents, fatherlessness, and the issues it present.
Obviously, tagging single parenthood in the United States as a prominent civic issue would be wrong if it were simply average when compared to countries worldwide. The reality, however, is that it is not. In fact, single parenthood in the United States has risen to between 25%-30% in the United States which is approximately four times the world average (7%), according to PyschologyToday. That being said, it will certainly be interesting to explore the effects of single parenthood, especially single motherhood and fatherlessness (the majority of single parent cases), compare various demographics, and uncover what this means for the objective of The Fall of the Family.
Thank you, and I will see you in a couple weeks!
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