Changes that Affect the Function and Structure of the Traditional Family.
It is obvious that variations in the family structure will increase in number and forms as time goes on. It is generally believed that society will begin to see more families that are made up of unrelated adults, multigenerational families, stepfamilies, divorces, remarriages, and same sex marriages. .
Many in American society today choose to get married for love, to build families, and to expand their growth as human beings. The greatest stress on marriage in the late 20th and beginning of the 21st century has been the transition from a clear-cut gender-based division of labor to a much less focused one. Men and women are now sharing roles that were once consigned to one sex or the other. The old ideas have been hard to overcome, but as women have sought equal rights in regards to employment and social circumstances the shift has gotten a little easier, and both men and women are shedding their old roles. There are positive effects have occurred because of the institution of marriage, and they include that of married men and women having lower alcohol related problems and health risks than divorced and widowed people. Men especially seem to reap health benefits from marriage, and most experts believe this is because wives often monitor the family health, and because mar!.
riage provides incentives for men to engage in less high-risk pursuits. .
After marriage, parenthood becomes a new issue in itself for most couples. Most parents experience an unconditional love for their children, because no aspect of childhood seems more natural, universal, and changeless than the relationship between parent and child. The shift from an agrarian society to an industrial society over the past 200 years has revolutionized parent-child relationships and the terms of child development. Agrarian parents did not put an emphasis on emotional bonds with their children as individuals; parents and children were bound by economic necessity.