Family Development in a Changing World

Over the past half century, increased longevity and fertility control have had a marked effect on family structure. Women now devote a smaller proportion of their adult life to the rearing of children; they have also achieved higher levels of education, which has facilitated more egalitarian relations between husbands and wives and has increased the proportion of married women who are capable of holding jobs. To reshape one's personal goals to keep pace with these social changes is a complex and difficult task. The author points out some of the pitfalls and also notes that the feminist movement may ease the transition.