published on July 22, 2024 in blog

THEN AND NOW: How American families have changed since the early 1900s

Here's how families have changed from the 1900s to today.

The divorce rate is decreasing.

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INSIDER Data sourced figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found that thedivorce rate has been steadily decreasing since the mid-1980s. In 2017, the rate reached 2.9 divorces per 1,000 Americans with only 787,251 divorces total the lowest it's been since 1968.

INSIDER's Kim Renfro reported that some sociologists say there could be a link between declining divorce rates and more people deciding to live together before marriage.

Same sex marriage is now legal nationwide, but LGBTQ+ families still experience discrimination.

Jae C. Hong/AP

Same-sex marriage became legal in all 50 states in 2015 with the Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges.

Average family size is decreasing.

Hollis Johnson/INSIDER

Experts think there are several reasons for the decline including economic factors such as rising education costs and the 2008 recession, better sex education, and women choosing to focus on their careers and start families later in life.

Middle children could be "going extinct."

Amber Morse/Pexels

Household sizes have decreased, but the size of the average family home has increased.

John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images

In 1973, the average single-family home in the US was 1,525 square feet. In 2010, that number had increased to 2,169 square feet.

More women with children have joined the workforce.

Men are pitching in more to help with housework and parenting responsibilities, but women still do most of it.

Ted S. Warren/AP

"The majority of young men and women say they would ideally like to equally share earning and care giving with their spouse ," Sarah Thbaud , a sociologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told The New York Times. "But it's pretty clear that we don't have the kinds of policies and flexible work options that really facilitate egalitarian relationships."

Many Americans moved to the suburbs after World War II.

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

As car ownership became more popular, it allowed families to move farther from urban areas and commute to work, and having a home with a backyard and picket fence became the " American dream ."

More and more Americans are living in multigenerational households.

Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Smartphones have changed the way families interact.

The Washington Post/Contributor/Getty Images

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