Renewed Focus on the Changing Family and Its Challenges

When looking at current data on families, it is important to examine many of the assumptions held concerning families. While families do share common needs and aspirations, it is unwise to invoke an image of the family which assumes that all families fulfill tasks in the same way. Practitioners in the fields of education and the social services too often find themselves struggling with the unintended consequences of a static and monolithic image of the family. It is possible to discern a pattern from among the interwoven economic, social, and demographic changes in society. In contrast to traditional patterns of home economics in which members of a family achieved material well-being and security because of their membership in a family, today, economic well-being is achieved in spite of family responsibilities. If a place is to be made for families in the future, a critical assessment is needed of (1) patterns of economic development that require high rates of geographical mobility, (2) patterns of income distribution that severely marginalize anyone who is not active in the labor force, and (3) patterns of work and employment that are insensitive to the family responsibilities of employees. (PCB)