Marriage & Family in the U.S

Marriage & Family in the U.S Time Line Exercise

Time Line Exercise Step 1: In one paragraph of no more than five sentences, summarize how you think marriage, the family, and women's roles in the U.S. have changed since Colonial times.

Time Line Exercise Step 2: Working in your small group, arrange all the statements chronologically along the time line. There are six broad time periods: • 1600 -1700's, • 1800's, • 1900-1940's, • 1950- 1960's, • 1970 -1990's • 2000+. There are five statements for each periods that describe marriage, the family, and women's roles during that time. After you sort them all, write down the numbers for each period.

Time Line Exercise Answer Key Write down the numbers of the three most surprising ones to you.

1600-1700’s 4 20 14 24 10

1600’s-1700’s (4) There is a sudden upsurge in the number of women who are pregnant when they get married, with about 40% of married women having a first child less than eight-and- one half months after the ceremony.

1600’s-1700’s (20) A flood of advice books and works of fiction help to popularize revolutionary new ideas about courtship and marriage. Romantic love becomes the new ideal basis for marriage.

1600’s-1700’s (14) With young women between the ages of 14 and 27 enjoying unprecedented opportunities to attend school and earn income, marriage begins to be regarded by girls as a closing off of freedom.

1600’s-1700’s (24) For some groups in the U.S., about a third of all spouses are separated and half of all children are separated from at least one parent. Other relatives often take on the function of parents with many informal adoptions.

1600’s-1700’s (10) Half of all marriages in the Chesapeake area of the country end within eight years and most families consist of a complicated assortment of step-parents, step-children, half brothers, and half sisters.

1800’s 25 15 6 1 11

1800’s (25) Spouses begin to display affection more openly and a new concept of childhood develops where children are seen as special creatures in need of attention, love, and time to mature. Children begin to stay at home longer than in the past.

1800’s (15) Women have an unprecedented degree of freedom and increasing numbers attend school and work. Individuality and equality are increasingly valued and the expectation that women should be subordinate in marriage conflicts with these changing values.

1800’s (6) A sharp fall in the birth rate is occurring, dropping to an average of three children per woman. Divorce rates steadily rise, and the U.S. divorce rate is the highest in the western world. One child in ten lives in a single parent home.

1800’s (1) There is a new cultural awareness of domestic violence which fosters a social panic over family violence and child neglect.

1800’s (11) To combat the decline in middle-class birth rates, the government restricts distribution of birth control and many states criminalize abortion.

1900-1940’s 9 22 17 27 2

1900-1940 (9) More than one third of college and university students are women.

1900-1940 (22) For the first time, a majority of American families consist of a breadwinner husband, a homemaker wife, and children attending school.

1900-1940 (17) Marriage rates fall to historic lows and then rebound to record highs only 14 years later.

1900-1940 (27) Married women are not allowed to make a legal contract in twelve states.

1900-1940 (2) Over 5 million young women become the head of their households and care for children alone while million of older, married women leave home and go to work. Many older children take part time jobs and 1.5 million married couples live apart.

1950-1960’s 13 19 5 28 30

1950-1960’s (13) The average age of marriage for women drops to 20, divorce rates stabilize, and the birth rate doubles.

1950-1960’s (19) The compression of childbearing into the first years of marriage makes many women free of the most intense childrearing responsibilities by their early to mid 30’s.

1950-1960’s (5) The proportion of the population which is comprised of young adults rises to 21%, educational attainment increases, and a new youth culture develop separate from the family.

1950-1960’s (28) New York becomes the first state to outlaw rape in marriage.

1950-1960’s (30) At the time of their marriage, 52% of women are pregnant.

1970-1990’s 8 29 16 26 21

1970-1990’s (8) Birth rates for unmarried minority women 20-24 experience a 15 year decline while birth rates for unmarried white women of all ages begin to rise.

1970-1990’s (29) Americans have the lowest marriage and divorce rates in nearly 25 years but more babies are born.

1970-1990’s (16) Rates of teenage pregnancy are stable and the number of older childless women increases substantially.

1970-1990’s (26) The mean age of first marriage for black women is 26 and for white women is 24. By 30-34 years of age, 31% of black women have never been married compared to 13% for white women.

1970-1990’s (21) In a span of 50 years, births in the U.S. to unmarried women increase eight times to be 31% of all births.

2000’s 12 23 3 18 7

2000’s (12) A crisis in care giving emerges as single parents and dual earner families find it increasingly difficult to balance work and family life, caring for both children and parents.

2000’s (23) Three children in ten are born out of wedlock. Half of all marriages end in divorce. Over 25% of all children live with one parent and fewer than 50% live with their biological mother and father.

2000’s (3) Twenty percent of women between 30-34 have not married and 25% have no children.

2000’s (18) Adolescents follow traditional dating customs by having the first data be male dominated (i.e. the man will pay for the date and decide on the plans). Men maintain a more dominant role over the dating process and women generally fill a reactive role where they wait to be asked on a date & expect to be picked up for the first date.

2000’s (7) Forty-one percent of births are to unmarried women.

Time Line Exercise Question: How does your one paragraph summary of history compare with the actual chronology from the exercise?

Marriage & Family in the U.S