6.Занятие Лекция

THE CHANGING AMERICAN FAMILY.

The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly two types of families: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family . The nuclear family become more prevalent; this consisted only of the parents and the children.

In the American family the husband and wife usually share important decision making. When the children are old enough, they participate as well. Foreign observers are frequently amazed by the permissiveness of American parents. The old rule that " children should be seen and not heard" is rarely followed, and children are often allowed to do what they wish without strict parental control. The father seldom expects his children to obey him without question, and children are encouraged to be independent at early age. Some people believe that American parents carry this freedom too far. Young people are expected to break away from their parental families by the time they have reached their late teens or early twenties.

Now, besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word " family" is being extended to include a variety of other living arrangements. Today's family can be made up diverse combinations. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there is an increase in single- parent homes : a father or mother living with one or more children. Blended families occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, some couples are deciding not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in two-person childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced. Now, one in five Americans lives alone. Reunions are diverse in nature like the families themselves. They may be held in private homes or in parks, restaurants, and churches. Independence Day is a favourite get-together date, but reunions are also organized around birthdays, anniversaries, and other joyous occasions. They are generally centered around food, with members contributing dishes that are special to the family. At the same time reunions might include all sorts of activities and entertainments, potato-sack races being one of them. Reminiscing about the pleasant events of the old days while looking through family albums is also part and parcel of such family gatherings.