In all human societies, the family unit is generally recognized as the fundamental social grouping within which individuals cope with the major challenges of their life and experience its major rewards and achievements. In addition, the family remains a primary agency for socializing the young and for carrying out, on a day-to-day basis, the myriad of personal functions and interactions essential to human survival and well-being. Indicators of the stability and well-being of the family are, therefore, indicators of the condition of the individuals who share in the duties and rewards associated with sustaining this basic form of social organization. I. TRENDS IN FAMILY SIZE AND COMPOSITION Charts 2/1 to 2/4 The general trend during the past three decades in the growth of the number of families in the U.S. has been relatively stable. Projections of the number of families to the year 1990 reflect this stability and provide some insight into future demands in the area of family needs. While the husband-wife family group (over four-fifths of all families) remains the basic core of family types, the family headed by a female (with no husband present) will continue to be an important group affecting family and childcare-related decisions. The average size of American families reached a peak of about 3.7 persons around 1965, largely consequent to the preceding "baby boom" of the 1950 decade. Since then, it has diminished steadily, reaching 3.4 by 1975, and is expected to continue to decline, reaching about 3.0 by 1990. The bulk of this decline in average family size is attributable to the drop in the proportion of family members under 18 years of age. A return to the higher fertility rates of the 1950's would, of course, produce a reversal of this downward trend. While both black and white population groups have experienced some increase in the percentage of families headed by females (i.e., with husband absent), both the proportion of such family units and the rate of increase in that proportion are much higher among the blacks than among the whites. By 1975, 35 percent of black family units were headed by females, as compared with 10.5 percent of white family units. An examination of the marital status of females who are heads of families reveals that a substantially higher proportion of blacks than whites appear in each marital status category. It is also evident that these proportions have been increasing more rapidly than for whites since 1960. Trends in the number of children under 18 in all families reflect the changes in fertility rate and family size. While the proportion of childless white families has risen since 1960, the corresponding proportion among black families has declined during the same period. However, both groups have experienced a decline in the proportion of families with three or more children since 1970. The recent decline in fertility is also reflected in the percentage distribution of families according to the number of family members. By 1975, over half of the black families and nearly 60 percent of the white families were composed of two or three members. Between 1960 and 1975, the proportion of large white families (6 persons or more) declined from 12 to 9 percent, while the corresponding proportion among black families dropped from 26 to 18 percent. Taking the changing age distribution of the adult population into account, it is evident that the proportion of married persons has remained remarkably stable over the 25-year span from 1950 to 1975. The only major changes in these proportions have occurred among the "divorced" categories, which have risen among both men and women. A different perspective on trends in the marital status of the adult population is afforded when the data are examined by cohort, which reveals changes in the marital status of the same cohort group over the 20-year period from 1950 to 1970, by sex and race. A salient feature of this change is the higher proportion of widowed and divorced women in the 45 to 54-year age group (as compared with men) and the higher proportions in these categories among blacks (both men and women) as compared with whites. II. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS Charts 2/5 to 2/7 Trends in the living arrangements of persons aged 18 to 64 and 65 and over, by sex, are shown for the period 1955 to 1975. An interesting feature of this chart is the sharp drop in the proportion of individuals aged 65 and over (both men and women) who are not living either in families or as primary individualsfrom 7 to 1 percent between 1955 and 1975. Among the men, there has been an equally impressive drop in the proportion living in families headed by someone else than themselves. In other words, the proportion of older men who are heads of their own households (either heads of primary families or primary individuals) has risen from 80 percent in 1955 to 95 percent in 1975-a clear indication of both the growing independence and growing isolation of this population group. A similar trend is apparent among older women, with an increase in the proportion who are living as primary individuals1-from 23 percent in 1955 to 39 percent in 1975. An analysis of the living arrangements of unrelated individuals, classified by broad age groups and by sex, shows that there has been a substantial rise in the proportion of young adults living as unrelated individuals, particularly since 1970. Also outstanding is the substantial increase in the proportion of older females (aged 65 and over) who are living as unrelated individuals-from 24 to 41 percent between 1950 and 1975. In contrast, the corresponding proportion among men aged 65 and over has remained nearly constant at about 17 percent. Of greater significance is the fact that a growing proportion of these female unrelated individuals are primary individuals, almost all of whom are living alone. By 1975, 38 percent of all women aged 65 and over were living alone. A projection of the number of individuals living as primary individuals, by age and sex to 1990, also provides a view of future living arrangements of the population. According to these projections, further major increases in the number of primary individuals (i.e., persons heading households which are composed of unrelated individuals, or persons living alone as oneperson households) may be expected among males 25 to 54 years old and among females aged 65 to 74 and 75 years and over. As noted above, nearly all of the older female primary individuals are living alone; the number of female primary individuals aged 65 and over is expected to rise from about 5 million in the mid-1970's to about 7.9 million by 1990. III. FAMILY STABILITY Charts 2/8 to 2/12 Trends in the number of first marriages, divorces, and remarriages provide measures of family stability. An interesting feature of these data is the parallel trend in the number of divorces and the number of remarriages. Taken together, these trends suggest that while the stability of marriage may be questioned, the popularity of the institution of marriage has not lessened. However, the two ratios are indicative of growing marital instability, especially during the past decade. The ratio of the number of divorces to the number of first marriages has risen sharply during this period, while the ratio of the number of remarriages to the number of divorces has begun to drop. A continuation of 1 See technical notes for definitions of terms. these trends implies a substantial rise in the number of formerly married individuals who remain single. The rise in the number of divorces and annulments each year from 1953 to 1974, together with the corresponding increase in the number of children involved in these marital dissolutions, directly affects the living arrangements of these young children. Over this 21-year period, the annual number of divorces and annulments has risen by 250 percent, while the number of children involved has increased by 333 percent. During the 1962-72 period, the percentage of divorce decrees involving no children or involving one or two children has risen somewhat, while that of divorce decrees involving three or more children has been tending downward. Nevertheless, over 60 percent of all divorce decrees still involve at least one child. An important consequence of marital instability and illegitimacy is the proportion of children under 18 who are not living with both parents. Since 1960 there has been a rise in this percentage among both whites and blacks. Further indication of the impact of marital instability can be seen in the 1960 to 1975 data which indicate the number of divorced persons per 1,000 married persons with spouse present. IV. PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS Charts 2/13 to 2/16 Despite the evidence of growing marital instability and an increase in the number of people living together as unrelated individuals, at least three people out of four express great satisfaction with their family life. Data from recent surveys show that during the recent past (1973-75), only about 3 percent of respondents report experiencing little or no satisfaction with family life. A breakdown of the results obtained on this opinion item reveals the following differences: (a) Sex differences. There are no significant differences by sex in the proportions expressing great satisfaction with family life. (b) Education differences. Persons in the middle categoryhigh school graduates-tend to express somewhat greater satisfaction with family life than either the less educated or the more educated groups. (c) Age differences. There are no significant differences among age groups in the general degree of satisfaction with family life. Some insight into the attitudes which underlie the growing tendency for older persons to live apart from their children is provided by similar survey data which indicate that only about 3 out of 10 respondents think it is a "good idea" to have older people share a home with their grown children, while a majority of the respondents consider that kind of a living arrangement to be a "bad idea." If respondents are overwhelmingly satisfied with their family life, their expressed feelings about their own marriages reveal a less sanguine view. Even here, however, over two-thirds of the respondents report being "very happy." For this item also, further breakdown of the results reveals the following differ ences: (a) By sex. Women are slightly less likely than men to rate their marriages as "very happy." (b) By education. Persons with less than 4 years of high school are less likely than the more educated groups to rate their marriages as "very happy." (c) By age. No significant differences are found among different age groups. Given the growing incidence of divorce in our society, the responses obtained to the question as to whether divorce should be easier or more difficult to obtain than it is now are of interest. Less than a third of the respondents thought it should be easier to obtain a divorce, while nearly half expressed the view that it should be more difficult. These findings suggest that most Americans are highly ambivalent in regard to divorce, recognizing the importance of being able to escape from an intolerable situation while also recognizing that such a drastic step should not be taken without careful consideration of the human costs involved in either maintaining or disrupting an unhappy or unfortunate union. V. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS Three items of information have been selected for the purpose of comparing the United States with other countries: Average size of households, single-person households as a percent of all households, and the number of divorces per 1,000 population. From the limited data available, it is evident that the trend toward smaller households is not unique to the United States, but is being experienced by such countries as Canada, Japan, and West Germany. The upward trend in the proportion of single-person households in the United States has been quite steady over the past two decades; but, here also, a similar upward trend is apparent in Japan and the United Kingdom, while this proportion is considerably higher in Sweden and West Germany than in this country. The incidence of divorce, however, appears to be greater in the United States than in the other countries with roughly comparable data, and the trend is sharply upward. Such trends are difficult to interpret, since they may reflect the complex interaction of such factors as role conflicts within the family unit, the growing economic independence of married women, reduced fertility, and increasing reliance upon nonfamilial associations and activities for the achievement of personal goals. |