Презентация на тему "American family life"

American Family Life

Dating: where it all begins

• Traditional customs of dating in the United States
• Going out for coffee
• First date – dinner or lunch at a restaurant
• Or some kind of fun activity
• Subsequent dates – “dating”
• After some time, discussion about exclusivity

Is this process realistic?

• Life doesn’t always follow such a template
• The “hook-up culture”
• 500 Days of Summer clip

Where do Americans meet their spouses?

• Near 30 percent of heterosexual American couples meet through their friends
• Around 25 percent at a bar or restaurant
• Around 25 percent of American couples made first contact online
• College – around 11 percent (Middlebury marriage statistic)
• Work – around 10 percent
• 73 percent of Americans believe in the concept of soulmates

American wedding traditions

• Varied and flexible traditions due to the country’s diverse population
• Many customs stem from Europe
• Americans follow the customs of their religion or ethnic culture
• Average age – 26.5 for women, 28.7 for men

Size of the average American family

• Fertility rate in the United States: 1.88 births per woman
• A record low
• 2.1 births per woman needed for a given generation to replace itself

Size of the average American family (cont’d)

• Family size is not necessarily determined by the number of children a woman has
• Household size on the decline – currently at 2.55 people, compared to 3.67 in 1948
• 1-person households currently make up 27 percent of total
• Portion of households with two married parents and children is only 20 percent of total

Traditional American (Nuclear) Family

Made up 45 percent of American households in 1960.

Nuclear family in decline

• Today, makes up just 19 percent of total households

Unmarried mothers with children

• More than 40 percent of babies in the United States are born to unmarried mothers Unmarried mothers are more likely to have lower incomes, lower education levels, and greater dependence on welfare assistance
• More than 40 percent of babies in the United States are born to unmarried mothers
• Unmarried mothers are more likely to have lower incomes, lower education levels, and greater dependence on welfare assistance

Divorced or separated parents

• Approximately half of all marriages in the U.S. end in divorce
• Roughly 40 percent of American children have divorced parents
• 75 percent of children of divorced parents live with their mother
• Despite initial trauma, most children of divorced parents become well adjusted adults

Same-sex parents

• Same-sex marriage is legal in 29 states
• 646,464 same-sex households in the U.S. in 2010
• 25.3 percent of same-sex households had children living with them in 2012
• 4 percent of adopted children in the U.S. are raised by gay and lesbian parents

Blended families

• A family in which one or both parents have children from a previous relationship
• 40 percent of married couples with children are stepcouples
• Approximately one-third of all marriages in the U.S. form stepfamilies

Raising children

• Average cost of raising a child in U.S.: $245,340
• Reading aloud
• Hobbies encouraged

• Youth sports Dance Music Art
• Youth sports
• Dance
• Music
• Art

Technology and American children

• 7 out of 10 American children younger than 8 have used a mobile device
• 6 out of 10 watch TV daily
• Children in the United States watch an average of 3-4 hours of TV daily

Adolescence in the United States

• Show clip from movie Boyhood
• Importance of relationship with peers
• Creation of personal identity
• Rites of passage

• Drivers license High school graduation Leaving for college
• Drivers license
• High school graduation
• Leaving for college

Family Meals

• 53 percent of American families with children eat dinner together 6 or 7 nights a week
• Average of 5.1 dinners a week together
• 84 percent of Americans say that this is one of their favorite times of the day

Family Leisure

The Elderly in the U.S.

• Growing older population in the U.S. “Baby boomer generation”
• 55 percent of non-institutionalized people over the age of 65 lived with their spouse
• 29 percent lived alone
• 20 percent lived in a multi-generational household
• 4.1 percent of the 65+ population lived in nursing homes in 2009

Takeaway

• Family continues to be important to Americans, but the makeup of the American family is changing
• Americans are beginning to embrace unconventional families
• Aging population, influence of technology
• The younger generation will not have the material same level of material comfort possessed by their parents