Is the Family in Decline?

David Popenoe makes the point that the family is in decline, he uses various statistics and readings to try and prove his point, but in my case the article just left me aggravated. “People have become less willing to invest time, money and energy in family life, turning instead to investments in themselves.” (528) I agree with him that the family may be in decline, but now it is for the better I am in agreement with Cowan’s argument when he says that Popenoe is using correlation to try and prove causation. He is “consistently blaming the victim and ignoring the synergy of social forces that place American families at risk.” (549) The reason that people are getting married, getting jobs and having kids later in life is so that they able to establish themselves financially prior to bringing a child into the world. Better birth control has allowed couples to wait until they are not only emotionally better adjusted and physically able to handle a child but also financially able to provide everything that a child may require. This also means that many children now who are brought into the world are not only planned but wanted.

I also believe that it is important to leave a marriage where both parties are unhappy. Even if it does not cause a person physical harm it can be emotionally draining for not only the spouses but for the children as well.
The author is correct in the sense that things have changed dramatically and many people are waiting until they are more established to start a family. This may not be a bad thing and in fact can be deemed an improvement over the past. It is okay to be selfish when you are young and it is a time to make mistakes. As you get older and wiser the knowledge of being secure with yourself and your decisions and those of your loved ones allow you to bring other people into your lives.

1. Popenoe definition of family is “a domestic group – a group in which people typically live together in a household and function as a cooperative unit, particularity through sharing of economic resources, in the pursuit of domestic activities”. What do you think is the proper definition of family and who should be included?

2. Is it better to stay in a bad marriage for the sake of children?

3. Should the only focus of getting married be procreation?