Parental Roles
In the opening years of the twenty-first century, most adults are or will become parents. The ages at which they start having children, as well as the number of children they have, differ significantly from earlier generations and from culture to culture, as do the social and economic conditions of parenthood. In this article, several major aspects of parenthood in the contemporary United States—and other industrialized nations—are discussed. First, several demographic patterns associated with parenting are reviewed. Second, the rewards and costs associated with parenting are examined. Third, changes in the responsibilities of parents, as defined by social perceptions of the nature of childhood, are discussed. In this section, special attention is given to gender differences in parenting styles. The fourth section examines the impact of the first child's birth on the parents. The paper closes with a discussion of parent-child relations in middle and later life.
Demographic Trends in Parenting
Average Number of Births per Woman. One of the most dramatic changes in the nature of parenthood in industrialized nations has been the decline in the average number of births to each woman. In the United States, this number has decreased from seven births per woman to two, over the past 200 years.
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