For a large percentage of Americans, the early 1960s were similar to the 1950s. It was a time of home and family, with fathers going to work every morning to support their families while mothers stayed at home to raise the children. The average white family owned a home in the suburbs, bought a new car every few years, and was able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle that was not available to the average citizen before World War II.

Family Life

The relatively new American prosperity meant that people could afford to have children at a younger age. In the early sixties, women married in larger numbers than ever before. In 1940 only 42 percent of women were married by the age of twenty-four, but by 1960 that number had jumped to 70 percent. And in the 1960s, the average age for marriage was lower than ever before—or...