The nuclear family does not truly exist in today's world. With America's fast passed life style family life seems to suffer. Some say that gender roles have not changed that drastically and that family life does not suffer. The world is changing and the family is just trying keep pace with it. (McCarroll) The destruction of the nuclear family is directly related to the changing male, female, and children's roles in the family.
There are some fathers today that are still sole breadwinner by choice. They are few and far between though. Most families have two incomes in our time. Which means that dad doesn't just have to deal with the moral problems of his children, he has to deal with all of their problems as well as the house, and food. Families are building bigger houses that cost more money. To make that money both parents work more and dad gets to spend less time with the kids. The male role has changed drastically from that of the nuclear male. (Hamamoto) The male no longer has to be the sole provider of the family. The male is allowed to show emotions, and he no longer seems to have all the answers. Emotions are no longer looked at as a weakness and are encouraged to be expressed. (McCarroll) The male is expected to do some cooking and cleaning in his role. None of this fits the profile of a nuclear father, which does not exist in today's society; therefore the female role has changed as well.
The mother has always been the person that holds things together in a family. In many cases this is still true. There are mothers that still cook, clean, and darn socks while their kids are at school. The problem is that most of these mothers live in the boon docks, the log cabin in the U.P., or Hopkins Michigan. The nuclear female has been torn partly through the woman's rights movement. (Taylor) Females are now going to school and becoming doctors and lawyers. They are not expected to be homemakers any longer.
