Family in Public Policy

            Clearly the average family of today does not fit the Cleaver prototype. The transitions from nuclear family, or a family in which both partners of a heterosexual marriage reside together with their genetic children have come in very diverse patterns. Today there are many ways in which you may classify a family unit, and more are trying to get a broader definition of family to be the framework for public policy pertaining to family. As families and society changes the policy that pertains to it must also change. .
             Families tend to spend much more time apart than they would have in the 1950's. With the U.S. government allowing Free trade and globalization of economics, our corporations have spread to worldwide conglomerates. Meaning that any family members that may have previously done corporation work with in the area are now sent throughout the world to spread their business. Thus spending less time with family and interacting less with immediate community. .
             The extended family has begun to disintegrate. As job mobility increases along with industry flexibility and movement of corporate offices and factories many children will move away from the immediate families home to find jobs. In past the extended family has been a form of primary socialization, a source of free daycare, and a crucial form of social support structure. Now, as American's we spread out, and we weaken our ties to family. Due to the lack of free daycare and tendency of working mothers and fathers to meet financial need there is the additional expenditure of daycare, and the loss of family heritage and bonding.
             Due to the economical status of Middle America, many families need to dual incomes coming into the household to keep it afloat. This concept was shown clearly in Nickeled and Dimed (Ehrenreich, 2001). People struggle to maintain life, to eat, to feed their children, to keep shoes on their kids' feet. The government has yet to increase the minimum wage to make it into a living wage, to accommodate the high price of housing, food, and raising children.