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America's Changing Face
 In
today's fast-paced world it seems that nothing stays the same
for more than five minutes, including the family. The traditional
household with a stay-at-home mom and working dad has now become
the exception rather than the rule. Increasingly, Americans are
waiting longer to marry and have children, and many are not bothering
to marry at all. The number of unmarried partners living together
has grown by more than 50 percent in the last ten years, according
to the latest U.S. Census report. High divorce rates, single fathers
raising children, same-sex couples, and the rise of interracial
marriages have all contributed to new ideas and views about what
it means to be a family. And while your grandmother might not
approve, most Americans are accepting of these significant changes
occurring in family relationships.
The figures below paint a modern picture of what a typical American
family may look like nowadays:
• As of 1998, there were 1.35 million interracial marriages in the United States, an 88 percent increase since 1960.
• Currently, about one household in 45 is run by a single father raising children without a mother present-an increase of 62 percent over the last ten years.
• One-third of all babies in America are born to unmarried women.
• U.S. Census data shows a 71 percent increase between 1990 and 2000 in the number of unmarried partners living together; married households increased only 7 percent during the same decade.
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