Farewell, June Cleaver: ‘Non-Traditional Families’ and Economic Opportunity

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6022/farewell_june_cleaver_family_structure_and_economic_opportunity/

Friday May 21 9:08 am

By Michelle Chen


The nuclear option: Beaver, Wally, June, Ward Cleaver (L to R), of TV's Leave it to Beaver. (Photo courtesy TV Land)

Does marriage make a difference for the economic prospects of future generations? A new study suggests the story isn't so simple.

As the traditional nuclear family fades into history, we've entered the era of the “non-traditional” family: single parents, pairs of moms and dads, blended families, multi-generational households, grandparent caregivers. With a growing share of babies today born outside marriage, American society seems to be finally leaving behind the Leave it to Beaver model.

A new study by Pew Economic Mobility Project asks how family structure--a divorced or single-parent household versus a conventional married one--affects a child's economic opportunities later in life. Society's attitude toward divorce and single parenthood has become more open over the past few generations, but has our economy?

It's easy to assume that divorce or single-parenthood would lead to some hardships, and Pew did find a link between marital status and socioeconomic advancement across generations. But the outcomes are also heavily influenced by race and class factors, which persist among poor households whether children grow up with one parent or two.

For children who start at the bottom third of the economic ladder, Pew found, “only 26 percent with divorced parents move up to the middle or top third as adults, compared to 42 percent of children born to unmarried mothers and 50 percent of children with continuously married parents.”

In terms of “absolute mobility,” or the potential to rise relative to their parents' income level, divorce does not have a clear impact on children's mobility:

Among children who start in the bottom third, 74 percent with divorced parents exceed their parents’ family income when they reach adulthood, compared to 90 percent of children with continuously married parents.


FULL story at link.

[Ken Burch]

1. Then again, there was a reason "Leave It To Beaver" was called a comedy in 1950's tv listings

Nobody's life was EVER like that...even IN the Fifties.

[PSPS]

3. Not entirely

In the 50's, it was possible and quite common to be able to buy a house, raise a family, buy a new car from time to time, even take the whole brood on a vacation every year all on a single income. The economy of the US was at its hottest, the middle class was doing fine, we were a the largest net creditor nation.

This continued pretty much unabated until reagan came along and it has been downhill ever since.

[tsuki]

5. Pearls...short waist dress...high heels in the afternoon...milk in a

pitcher, no.

[izquierdista]

2. A family with only one wage earner

Is a family that is not sending enough up to the top 1%.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

4. Here's another perspective: My family consists of my husband and me.

He's the only wage earner because I was laid off in January, and I'm trying to get a job. So far, I've sent out over 40 resumes, gone to numerous networking events and have had two interviews (no offers).

There are lots of families with one wage earner, and it's not because of choice.