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| Every girl in my freshman comp class |
Trends in Children, Families, and Policy!
I went to college (for the first time) in the 1980's, the decade of big hair and big hair bands!
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| Survivor |
It is interesting for me to study trends in families, in the parenting culture, in the economy, and in our politics. Many of the equity issues we face today have their roots in the economy of the 1980's. The PEW web site has some fascinating links. I find myself drawn to the PEW Research links to Social Trends (see link below).
An interesting study posted in March shared research about the changing roles of moms and dads. The study called "Roles of Moms and Dads Converge, But Gender Gaps Remain" is full of interesting material about modern parenthood. You would imagine that in 2013, the gender roles would look vastly different than they did in 1965 and they do. I did find it interesting that in 1965 mothers spent 8 hours a week in paid work compared to fathers who spent 42 hours a week in paid work. In 2011, the hours for mothers increased to 21 and fathers worked for pay 37 hours.
When we look at equity of access for preschool this week, one of the common issues in our discussion was transportation. The gender role study shed some light about where parents are and why transportation may be as much of an issue for the middle class as it is for economically disadvantaged family.
According to the study, in 1960, the year I was born, 72% of adults were married. Today, only 51% of adults are married. We all know that accessibility and affordability of early childhood programs can be an issue for single parents. If my post is intriguing to you, check out the PEW Research about Social Trends. I get lost there. Time to get those dinner dishes done....
Reference
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org
Katy, I wasn't in college in the 1980's I graduated high school in 1994, but Survivor is one of my favorite musical groups and I have lots of pictures with hair like that too. LOL Great post and what a great way to intrigue readers on social trends by posting an 80's picture. My husband is taking a class in sociology and we often have conversations about how society has changed along with how families are made up and how society influences or sees families and children. Great post, makes you really think. Melissa
ReplyDeleteKaty, trends in families and even in certain eras have become interesting. You have the clothing trend, languge trends, and on and on.Very interesting that you mentioned the "roles" of genders. Even though I wouldn't implement it in my children, I would still introduce certain roles to them as being "gender" related roles. But during play, I'd allow and even encourage them to take on whatever role it is that they would like to portray.
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