Although frequent claims are made in the media about the family's decline and impending demise as a social institution, most sociologists see the family as a changing institution, not a declining one. The world wide web is a place to find the latest data on these changes. It is also a place where families find resources and support. And it is also a place where advocates of alternative conceptions of the family argue their case and seek support.
Families are particularly important to society because they are the primary locus of the socialization of children. An excellent source of data about families and children in the U.S. is the federal interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics [http://www.childstats.gov/]. Click on America’s Children Monitoring Report in the “pie” on the upper left, then on the latest version of the America’s Children report. (Beginning in 2004, the report alternates between a “brief” and full version.) Then click on Population and Family Statistics on the toolbar, and use the text and linked tables towards the bottom to answer the following questions.
1. Over the next 20 years, the number of children in the United States is expected to decline stay the same grow . 2. As a proportion of the population, over the next 10 years children are expected to continue to grow remain the same decline . 3. The racial/ethnic group whose children are most rapidly increasing as a proportion of all children is African Americans Whites Hispanics Asian/Pacific Islanders . 4. What proportion of US children live with both parents?
1. Over the next 20 years, the number of children in the United States is expected to decline stay the same grow .
2. As a proportion of the population, over the next 10 years children are expected to continue to grow remain the same decline .
3. The racial/ethnic group whose children are most rapidly increasing as a proportion of all children is African Americans Whites Hispanics Asian/Pacific Islanders .
4. What proportion of US children live with both parents?
Now click on Economic Security on the top toolbar. Click on Child Poverty and Family Income.
5. The proportion of children living in female-headed households who live below the poverty line is about: 40% 20% 10%
5. The proportion of children living in female-headed households who live below the poverty line is about:
40% 20% 10%
Close the ChildStats window and return to the Family Virtual Exploration.
There are many advocacy groups that provide information about families and children. While well-intentioned, these groups sometimes are selective in the information they publicize, using only data that support their cause. Many, however, are well-respected and are careful to use data from reliable sources. For one example, visit the Children Defense Fund’s Data Page [http://campaign.childrensdefense.org/data/keyfacts.aspx] and click on Key Facts About American Children
6. Which of these facts are most striking or surprising to you? Discuss them briefly in the textbox below.
Go back to the Data webpage and click on Each Day in America. After you’ve perused this page, go back to the Data webpage and click on Where America Stands.
7. Taken in combination, what would you say the Children’s Defense Fund is trying to say in presenting these data? Do you agree with this message? Discuss in the textbox below.
Close the Children’s Defense Fund window and return to the Family Virtual Exploration.
On a global basis, UNICEF's The State of the World's Children 2000 [http://www.unicef.org/sowc00/] provides valuable international data. Click on Summary. Skim down to the heading, "The Price of Failure." Read through the next sections to answer the following questions.
8. How many children under five around the world die each day from mainly preventable causes? 9. How many children and young people are infected each month with the HIV/AIDS virus? 10. How many women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth that could be prevented? 11. Since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, how many children have been killed, injured or disabled in armed conflicts?
8. How many children under five around the world die each day from mainly preventable causes?
9. How many children and young people are infected each month with the HIV/AIDS virus?
10. How many women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth that could be prevented?
11. Since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, how many children have been killed, injured or disabled in armed conflicts?
Close the UNICEF window and return to the Family Virtual Exploration.
While “pro-family” values are extolled by virtually every politician in the United States, a variety of comparative studies have found the U.S. to compare poorly in the “family-friendliness” of its laws and public policies. To explore this, go to the website of the Project on Global Working Families [http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/globalworkingfamilies/index.html], located at the School of Public Health at Harvard University. Click on The Work, Family and Equity Index: Where Does the U.S. Stand Globally? This will bring up (in pdf format) a sixty page report that obviously is too long to read as part of this virtual exploration. However, the Executive Summary on pp. 7-8 (Adobe Acrobat numbering; pages 1-2 in the report) presents the report’s basic findings (more detailed summary charts for each of these findings begin on page 23, if you desire to learn more). After you read through pages 7-8, answer the following questions.
12. 163 countries around the world guarantee paid leave for women in connection with childbirth. Is the United States one of them? yes no 13. According to the report, the U.S. most lags behind in working conditions and services for children right to school and work services and income to the elderly 14. Does it surprise you that so many other countries have more family-friendly policies than the United States? How might you explain this? Discuss briefly below.
12. 163 countries around the world guarantee paid leave for women in connection with childbirth. Is the United States one of them?
yes no
13. According to the report, the U.S. most lags behind in
working conditions and services for children right to school and work services and income to the elderly
14. Does it surprise you that so many other countries have more family-friendly policies than the United States? How might you explain this? Discuss briefly below.
Close the report window and return to the Family Virtual Exploration.
As the data you have reviewed have indicated, the family is a constantly-changing institution. It is also a contested one. One widely-debated issue today is whether same-sex couples should enjoy the same status and privileges of marriage that opposite-sex couples have. An informative website to explore this issue is the Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Couples [http://buddybuddy.com/partners.html]. Click on Legal Marriage Essays, then Legal Marriage Primer. Read through this brief argument for legalizing gay marriage which includes useful social and historical detail on how the institution of marriage has changed over time.
15. In the textbox below, comment briefly on some of the ways in which the institution of marriage was defined and regulated differently in the past. 16. Why does the Partners Task Force not support efforts to enact domestic partnership laws? 17. In the textbox below, list the countries mentioned at this website that offer legal marriage for same-sex couples. 18. What U.S. state provides for legal marriage for same-sex couples?
15. In the textbox below, comment briefly on some of the ways in which the institution of marriage was defined and regulated differently in the past.
16. Why does the Partners Task Force not support efforts to enact domestic partnership laws?
17. In the textbox below, list the countries mentioned at this website that offer legal marriage for same-sex couples.
18. What U.S. state provides for legal marriage for same-sex couples?
Close the Partners Task Force window and return to the Family Virtual Exploration.
The American Family Association [http://www.afa.net/] is an organization that claims to stand for "traditional family values."
19. Explore the AFA website for a few minutes. How do you think this association would respond to the position advocated on the previous "Partners" website? 20. How would you characterize the general perspective that informs the views about the family expressed at this website? Discuss in the textbox below.
19. Explore the AFA website for a few minutes. How do you think this association would respond to the position advocated on the previous "Partners" website?
20. How would you characterize the general perspective that informs the views about the family expressed at this website? Discuss in the textbox below.
Close the AFA window.
By making use of a few of the many data sources on the internet, you have collected a number of statistics about families and children, both in the U.S. and worldwide. As we have seen, the situations of families and children varies tremendously both within societies and between them. Even in the richest and most powerful country in the world, close to twenty percent of all children live below the poverty line, and many are exposed to hunger and other circumstances that make healthy socialization very difficult. We have also looked at several websites that represent very different ideas about what the essence of marriage is, and which thereby illuminate an important ongoing debate over the future of marriage in the U.S. and around the globe.
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