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Families now and then
Our society has been witness of a series of changes as regards the roles of family members during the 20th century up to these days. At the beginning of the last century the idea of a family was very clear unlike the one we have nowadays. Families have changed in a lot of ways and the pace in which they have developed is quite fast.
If we went back in time and took a look at a typical family of the early 1900s, we would find a nuclear family with men going at work, women staying at home while children going to school. It is true that that is not our reality today. The latter half of the 20th century was characterized by tumultuous change in the economy, civil rights, sexual freedom, and by dramatic improvements in health and longevity. Consequently, there is a wide and varied range of roles of family members we see today.
These changes have given way to critical facts such as the size of households which has progressively fallen over the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century. For instance, many couples delay the time to have children whether they want to finish their careers or because they want to live a time by themselves before marrying or going to live together with somebody. Furthermore, the fastest growth among persons living alone was shocking. The proportion of households with just one person doubled from 13 percent to 26 percent between 1960 and 2000 in the United States.
Given that family relationships grow more complex everyday, the roles become more and more confusing too. Issues like the parental rights of gays and lesbians and their suitability as adoptive parents and the legalization of same-sex marriage are becoming more common these days and the family composition is changing at a fast rate. Far away from the typical nuclear family from the