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The Economics of Family Structure
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11608 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1994 |
2,606 Words |
| Author
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M. Anne Hill
M. Anne Hill is professor of economics at Queens College in
New York City and senior research associate at Baruch
College's Center for the Study of Business and Government. |
The difference in American family structure between the 1950s and the 1990s is almost as stark as that between Ozzie and Harriet and today's Grace under Fire. Of course far from all families today are headed by single mothers, but the trend is certainly in that direction.
Not all the changes in the family of the last thirty-five or so years have been socially deleterious. Some have actually been beneficial for children and their parents: Family size has declined and the level of schooling attained by most parents has gone up. But the troubling trends include the rising numbers of children who are born out of wedlock, who spend a significant portion of their childhood in single-parent families, and who are exposed to periods of poverty and welfare dependence.
The changes in family structure and the way we raise children-and the alleged link thereto of rising social unrest, crime, and poverty-have captured the interest of"'' the American public. Stephanie Coontz and Charmaine Yoest address how the structure of the American family influences the well-being of children and society at large. In taking a closer look at some of the issues they confront, I will attempt to shed further light on four questions: What has happened to the proportion of families headed by women? What is the relationship between family structure and poverty? What are the effects on children of growing up in a family with no father? What can be done?
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