Freedom of choice regarding partner selection in America
Research has it that all Americans possess the freedom of selecting their desired mates or partners. However, this fact tends to contradict the current mode of partner selection carried out in America. Presently, a number of social factors tend to determine the kind of partner that one can have. These factors inevitably influence one’s choice of a partner since certain individuals would want to know particular information concerning their potential partners. Some of the main factors that possess great impact on the choice of a mate include parental pressure, race, socioeconomic status, peer pressure and age. Parental pressure acts as a basic social factor that immensely affects partner selection. Some parents tend to take charge over whom their children should date. In that way, most young people fear selecting their desired mates since this duty is left for the parents. Marriages or partnerships involving people from different races prove very rare. Certain races get demeaned by others making it impossible for people of different races to become partners.
Power and control between partners
Several social factors tend to impact largely on the power and control between spouses. These factors vary from sex of the partner, socioeconomic status and even age. The sex of a partner may pose an immense impact on the power sharing between couples. Most societies still believe strongly in the power of a man over a woman. The woman therefore remains inferior to her male spouse regardless of whether she emerges from a higher social class or not. Another factor that affects power and control between spouses includes age. The older partner tends to possess greater power and control in the relationship. In the case of a married couple, matters of inheritance and control of wealth are taken over by the older spouse who in most cases is the man. Women seldom get an upper hand in control of wealth unless the mates die. The socioeconomic background of a partner may earn them more power and control in the relationship. A woman may be lucky enough to hold a higher place in the relationship due to her socioeconomic status. Power and control poses various impacts on a couple. The first most pronounced effect of power includes the endless domestic violence that partners experience. This fact is well depicted even in same sex relationships. This issue of power and control between couples motivates several divorce cases. The raw over certain family issues like inheritance and promiscuity could lead to abrupt divorce.
Reasons and impacts of high workload in American families
Most Americans spend much of their time doing up to two jobs in order to meet the rising costs of living. This situation leads to a large number of middle- aged Americans to delay in starting up families. Others also prefer remaining bachelors or unmarried women since they possess no time for family. Some families have also broken up since they lack the commitment of the parent or partner who is always at work. Conflicts arise when career people lack the ability of distributing their time well between family and work. This arises since a family man or woman may overdo one activity at the expense of another. Demands coming from the work environment deny them the chance to fulfill various family related responsibilities. Most family arrangements are developed based on financial stability of a particular family. People would rather have smaller families since the current economic conditions are very demanding. In addition, the current economic state in America leads to numerous cases of divorce. Furthermore, this has led to an increase in cases of single parenthood and illegitimate births. Families headed by a female tend to develop at a slower rate than those headed by a male. This occurs since from a general point of view, females receive a lower pay as compared to the males. In the efforts to fight against poverty, most people would rather avoid having large families in order to fit into the rising costs of living (Ingoldsby & Smith, 2006).
The effects of immigration on family dynamics
The Over the decades, the number of immigrants flocking into America through the shores has immensely risen. This tends to increase the overall state expenditure on various social amenities. Most of these immigrants lack consideration regarding future development and growth. Since most of these immigrants are children, certain factors allow these immigrants to adapt easily to the new cultural settings. An important factor includes education. Most immigrants lack the knowledge of the language in their new environment. Thus, children get educated and eventually get to know the English language. Immigrants require acceptance from the citizens of America so that they can easily adapt to their new environment. Cases of racism color discrimination slow down the processes of adaptation.
Reasons for poverty among most families
Most families around the world live adverse conditions of poverty. These cases of poverty arise from different reasons. Some occur due to the miscalculations made by family heads that lead to larger families that prove difficult to maintain. Another factor that leads to poverty includes the government that may formulate policies, which may place the citizens in risky financial states. Basing this argument on structural causes of poverty in America, most Americans lack lucrative jobs that enable them evade poverty. There exists a large number of low paying jobs that cannot sustain most citizens to the fullest. The low salaries that earn no benefits to the employee provide a good example of an economic structural cause of poverty in most families.
Structural and cultural descriptions of families
From a cultural point of view, gender holds a major role in determining the ways of life of a family. The male heads most families. However, this is with the exception of single parent families. In such cases, single male parents develop their families quicker that female-headed families. Most males get higher and better opportunities in the job market. Thus, their capability to bring up a family seems higher than those of females do. Therefore, this means that from both structural and cultural points of view, gender poses a fundamental impact on family dynamics. Men possess an upper hand in these two aspects.
Gender based definition of housework
Household chores get perceived as a sole duty of women in the family. Since time immemorial, women bore the duty of taking care of all housework while their male counterparts fended for the family. However, in recent years, women still bare this duty even in cases where they are the breadwinners of their families. This notion can be done away with as times tend to change drastically in social and cultural perspectives.
Is marriage for a lifetime a realistic expectation in the current postindustrial societies?
Although the current postindustrial societies prove demanding of man- power to remain stable, this should not hinder people to take part in lifetime marriages. However, this may occur impossible and unrealistic, good management and distribution of time between family and career could help manage a marriage. Potential men and women should indulge in lifetime marriages as the results prove lasting. One works for a period in life and seizes at a certain point. At that point, people need family for company to pass on wealth created over the years. Thus, it proves realistic to start a family regardless of the current situation in the economy or postindustrial society.
Impact of current economic conditions on family dynamics
The current state of the economy affects immensely the family dynamics. Most family patterns get formed to suit the economic demands in the current society. Couples evade bearing of many children and other couples remain childless. In addition, the current economic conditions led to an increase in singles and single parenthood. This led to an increased number of illegitimate childbirths among most single parents. Thus, a drastic change in family dynamics will be witnessed in the coming decades.
A Summary of chapter 12 on Emergent Families
According to chapter 12 on Emergent Families, the current family arrangements pose no threat to the present era. A good number of current family arrangements are not based on marriage. Certain myths tend to say that this kind of a lifestyle destroys family life. In the current world, single parenthood is an accepted issue. Research has it that unmarried women prove capable of leading normal and productive lives while still enjoying the normal pleasures of life.
Currently, couples live together with different motives aside from marriage. For instance, a couple may decide to stay together for courtship reasons. Others live together in a non-marital form of relationship. However, such kinds of couples bare higher risks of breakups. In the present social changes, gay marriages occur as an accepted family arrangement. The gay partners establish a family and form a kinship for themselves. In addition, immigrant families possess a higher chance of maintaining their families and sustaining them in the new environment.
Domestic patterns tend to evolve over the past few years. This occurred due to the immensely changing economic conditions. Other reasons for this include social growths and technological advancements. The ideal family arrangement that got formed in the 1950s is currently diminishing. Statistics carried out by the Bureau of Census between 1960- 2002 shows a clear evolution in family arrangements. Most recent households consist of non- related members. However, there occurred increased cases of persons living alone. Most current families in the U.S lack children. This is evident in majority of white households. However, in Latino and African- American households, there exists at least one child.
Conclusion
In conclusion, with the coming times, the predictions of an over- existence of non- family households are high. Most couples tend to evade baring children while other individuals remain unmarried for a lifetime. Such condition might occur due to the increasing economic demands. The current increase in population led to a congestion in the social amenities. In addition, most people tend to evade commitment presented by marriages such as child bearing. As such, most family structures remain informal. The economic situation also affects family patterns immensely. Due to the increasing demands in the economy, most family occur single- parented. Furthermore, cases of illegitimate births increased due to this. Thus, the government should review some of the policies that tend to affect family structures. Policies regarding salary and wage increments should be reviewed to fit into the current economic demands in the society (Eitzen, 2005).
