Week 2: Family Trends...

Last semester I FINALLY decided what I wanted to study and I changed my major to Marriage and Family studies. I honestly don’t know what I would do without my family. Because of things that I have experienced and the things that my family have experienced, advocating families is near and dear to my heart. I know the value of having a family and the importance of fighting for your marriage.

It's only week 2 of classes this semester and I've already learned SO MUCH. This blog is dedicated specifically to my family relations class and all that I am learning. This week we learned specifically about family trends throughout the years. 

To name a few that we learned about:

• The Baby Boom
• The more wealth, the less amount of children in a family
• An increase of women in the workforce 
• The women's revolution
• The introduction of birth control in 1962
• The sexual revolution
• An increase in cohabitation
• Divorce revolution
• Living alone
• Age of moms
• Fear to have children
• Individualism
• Family decline
• Less people getting married
• Postponing marriage and children
• Increase in infertility
• Decrease of children born in families
• Increase in abortions

It was so interesting for me to see all the different trends that affected families. Looking back to the 1940s-1950s, families were a big deal. Each family had a father and a mother, having children was encouraged, and there were far less divorces. Because of all the changes that have happened throughout the years, we look back to those times and the way families were and call it “old fashioned”.

Now there are far more divorces, the family make-up is far from traditional, more and more people are cohabitating, couples are postponing marriage or not even getting married at all, and people have just stopped having children.

It was SO surprising to me to find out one of the reasons why people have stopped having kids. We learned about a book called, “The Population Boom” by Paul Ehrlich which came out in 1968. Ehrlich predicted that the baby boom would continue and that there would be mass starvation, environmental degradation, and no resources left over. Ehrlich went on to say that the only way to prevent this was for people to stop having children. At the height of the baby boom, the average woman would have 3.7 children in her lifetime. Today, the average woman has 1.8 children.

This book and Ehrlich’s predictions caused real fear for people. Interesting enough, today the population has increased and yet here we are, with plenty of resources. Ehrlich deceived so many people with his predictions. Honestly, they were just that, predictions. There have been many predictions that never came true. Interesting enough, many people still believe in Ehrlich’s predictions. Interesting fact for ya, my professor shared with us that just last year, the Pope declared Ehrlich as a prophet and invited him to teach the world the “truth” and how people should have less children. Very interesting considering this man is known for his predictions that did not come true.

Another family trend that I came to understand better was the introduction of birth control. This family trend allowed for several other trends to be possible. More women could enter the work force, cohabitation became easier, there was in increase in premarital sex, the age of mothers increased, all while the birth rate decreased. With birth control, it suddenly became much easier to separate sex from reproduction.

Children are a valuable asset to our families, our communities, and our futures. New generations are crucial to helping a nation survive and thrive. For example, in China, there has long been the law that families are limited on how many children families can have. Looking at their country now, the older generation far outweighs the young. China has even tried paying people to have children, but it hasn’t worked. One generation has been taught that it’s bad to have children and it stuck.

Thanks for keeping up with me in my thoughts and rambles about what I find fascinating. 

Until next week!