In our society we view children to be the essence of
innocence and to be the future of our country. We view their caretaking to be
essential in their growth and development so that they grow up to be
substantial members of society. We emphasize on their education, health, and
many other factors that go into their wellbeing. As families grow and have more
children in today’s time you have to wonder who is actually being held
responsible for these children’s growth. Ultimately who is taking care of the
kids?
A worry of people today is that kids are having other kids.
This occurrence has been highlighted in today’s society through T.V shows and
individuals posting updates about their pregnancies on Facebook. This results
in young adults having children while they are still in teenagers. “In 2010,
U.S teen births accounted for 9.3% of all births and 20.1% of all nonmarital
births” (Solomon-Fears, 1). These births usually account for young unmarried
women who are not economically prepared to have a child. If the child is still
in school the child needs to be provided with some form of childcare during the
day. This results in the parents of the child taking care of their grandchild.
This expands the family dynamic to not only the single mother but the child’s grandparents
being one of the main caretakers as well.
A prime example of this is MTV's 16 & Pregnant:
 |
| http://jessica-pierce.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/image.jpg |
Another concept is the increase of parents working full
time. With our economy the cost of having children has been dramatically
increasing. Newman states that the cost $222,360 to raise a child from birth to
seventeen (218). This increases with each birth of a child within that family. With
both parents working there have been the diminishing views of a stay at home
parent. The view of women being a housewife has been reducing since more women
have been entering into the workforce. Mothers with children under the age of
eighteen that are in the workforce have dramatically increased from 47.4% to
71.6% between the years 1975 and 2009 (Bianchi, 1). This has changed society’s
views on family based on the stereotypes of having a parent that is the provider
and the other parent being the care provider. Both parents have the need to
work to bring in money to provide for their families to be able to sustain
their living conditions.
 |
| http://childcarecenter.us/static/images/providers/911232/daycare.jpg |
If the parents cannot take care of the child another option
for the parent is to put their child in daycare. Parents having to work or go
to school have increased the number of children in the daycare system. Instead
of one of the parents directly taking care of their children they depend on
outside sources to raise their children and teach them good values. According to
the U.S Census Bureau, in 2010 about 20% of children were in Center-based care
(1). This brings into question how much time these children are having with
their families. They are being taken care of by individuals that are not their
relatives. This has changed the structure on how families interact and the time
they spend together. It also changes who ultimately interacts with the children
on a daily basis. As a society we depend on others to raise our children while
we are at work.
These different factors play into how families are affected
by their structure and who is taking care of the children. It changes the
interactions and the way the children grow up to become substantial members of
their communities. They are introduced to different forms of family based on
the way they are taken care of on a daily basis. These factors play into how
they are raised and the values that are being taught to them. Our definition of
how a family “functions” has changed over the years and the way we provide care
for our children has changed to reach beyond the nuclear family and the
stereotypes of the parents care.
Work Cited:
Newman, D.M. (2012). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture
of Everyday life. 9th Ed. Pine Forge Press: Thousand Oaks, California.
Other references:
I liked your post and how you included teen pregnancy. It's a growing trend, and your video showed a lot of the struggles they face. There were a couple parts in your post where your wording was a little funny "Newman states that the cost $222,360 to raise a child from birth to seventeen" so just make sure to proof read. Although, I know things like that are hard to catch!
ReplyDeleteTaty,
ReplyDeleteAnother well-written post. I enjoyed your two examples of the problems that families face today: teen pregnancy and the need for both parents to be working full time. I definitely think that teen pregnancy is a problem because, in my opinion, I do not think it is a good idea to have children while going through High School.
High School is stressful enough and adding a child to that mix just puts more strain on familial ties. Anyway, aside from the wording that Hanna caught, this post was great. Good work!