WHO'S AT HOME?

AMERICAN FAMILY

1. Families have existed for about 300,000 years now, continually changing with the times. Still, the lifestyle of the contemporary American family horrifies some foreigners. They describe it this way: "Young children are in day care centers. Teenagers are often in trouble. Mothers are at work. Divorced fathers rarely see their children. Widowed grand­parents live alone. Great‑grandparents live in nursing homes. “Don't American family members love each other and take care of each othe r?'

2. Yes, they do. The American family still cares about and cares for its members, but in new ways. American children, for example, may spend less time with relatives than children did in the past. Nevertheless, families still give children their most important experiences and values as well as their most enduring relationships.

3. Most families consist of a mother, a father, and a maximum of two children living at home. There may be relatives—grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and i n‑laws in the same community, but American families usually maintain separate households. This familial structure is known as the "nuclear family" or immediate family. It is unusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife and children to live together. Oc­casionally an aging grandparent may live with the family, but this ar­rangement is usually not considered desirable. Although the nuclear family unit is economically independent of the rest of the family, mem­bers of the whole family group often maintain close kinship ties. Visit­ing between parents and their married children and between married sisters and brothers is frequent when they live close to each other. If they live in different communities, they keep in touch by writing letters and by telephone.

WHO'S AT HOME?

4. Americans are like most people: when they grow up, they eventu­allyleave thefamily of their childhood and form their own families. About 71% of Americans live with people that they're related to by blood or marriage. Of the 91.5 million households in the USA, 65 million are families. Most other households consist of one person living alone. Only 9% of households are made up of people who are not related.

5. Today's typicalAmerican family is not the traditional one with Daddy at work, Mommy in the kitchen, and several children playing in the backyard. Approximately 51% of American families have no children under the age of 18 living at home. Because of the high divorce rate and the large number of childrenborn out‑of‑wedlock, 24% (15 million) of American children live with only one parent, usually their mother. Pre­dictions are that 60% of today's American youngsters will spend at least part of their childhood in a one‑parent household.

6. The contemporary American child doesn't have a lot of companion­ship from brothers and sisters because the average family has only one or two children. With so many women working full‑time, five or six million preteens come home from school to an empty house, while others go to after‑school centers to avoid being alone. Because of the high divorce rate and the trend toward having fewer children the American household is now smaller than it has ever been, down to a statistical average of 2.6 people.

7. Most American children live with their parents at least until they finish high school at age 17 or 18. Then, many go away to college, leaving some parents sad and lonely in their empty nest and others enjoying their release from parental responsibilities. However, many young single adults stay with their parents during their college years or return home after graduation. The high cost of housing keeps many young adults in their parents' home until they get married.

8. Today's parents cannot even be sure that their married children have moved out forever. After a divorce, adults may return to the parental home temporarily or even on a long‑term basis especially if they are lonely, short of money, or in need of baby-sitting grandparents.

9. Although adult children sometimes come home to Mom and Dad, middle‑aged and elderly people seldom move in with their grown chil­dren. Older people take pride in their independence, enjoy their freedom, and do not want to be a burdento their children. The telephone, the car, and the airplane keep them in close contact even when they live in different parts of the country.

10.In the USA, it's common for a family to span four generations. In this aging population, the average American is 32 years old, and a newborn baby has a life expectancy of 75 years. About 30 million Ameri­cans—12% of the nation's population—are 65 or older and the nation's over‑85 population is increasing rapidly.

11. Senior citizens are often thought of as two different groups— the "young old' (ages 65 to 75) and the "old old" (over 75). The younger senior citizens are often quite active working part‑time, traveling, en­joying leisure activities with friends, and traveling across the country to visit their children and grandchildren.

12.But what about the “old old"? Sometimes, foreigners mistak­enly conclude that Americans simply leave their elderly relatives in nursing homes and forget about them (Actually, only about 6% of today's senior citizens live in nursing homes; however experts predict that 20% to 25% of Americans alive today will reside in a nursing home at some time in their lives.) For elderly people who are ill or handi­capped, a nursing home may be the only alternative because their daughters and daughters‑in‑law are working, and there is no one home during the day to care for them. Family members usually select a nursing home that is nearby so that they can visit often.

13.In many communities, retirement facilities have been devel­oped to provide living quarters for older people who do not need constant nursing care but who can no longer handle the burden of shopping and cooking for themselves. Other senior citizens choose to move to the Sun Belt, one of the southern or southwestern states, where the climate is milder. But wherever they are, they are part of a family that has not forgotten them.

14.The mobility of Americans works against the family unit by sometimes placing thousands of miles between people who once shared the same dinner table. But family members hop into a car or onto a plane to come together for the major turning points in each others' lives. Birthdays, graduations, marriages, anniversaries, and funerals all reunite families. Family parties may be all the more joyous when they bring together relatives who haven't seen each other for a while.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16