[craigery]

As a single parent, one thing that really concerns me is what would happen to my kids if something should happen to me. With two parents, that option is a bit more settled. One major, major inconvenience for me is if my work requires me to travel (which fortunately hasn't happened for awhile!), what do I do with my kids.

Families are changing. Altho in LDS culture, having large families may be the norm, in my work and home environment, most of the families and couples I know have zero, one or possibly two kids --- usually not three or more! (I live in an urban-suburban setting, where living costs are quite high). People just don't have large families anymore!

Also, in many if not most cases in my area, both parents work. Many times the woman earns more than the man. Sometimes the woman works longer hours than the man. In one family across the street from me, the dad stays home with the 4 year old, while the mom, who is an attorney, works.

So family trends now are for smaller families, with both parents working, and a very high divorce rate (up to 50% of all marriages may end in divorce!). One high schooler I spoke with said that he had zero friends where the kid lived with both birth parents!

I suppose that family structure has always been in a state of flux. One hundred years ago (and even more recently in other societies) the norm was the extended family, where the parents, children, grandparents, and even other relatives often lived on the family farm. Now the nuclear family is the norm; with elderly grandparents living separately; sometimes even RV'ing across the U.S.! (one friend sees his step dad about once a year when the dad parks his RV across from his condo!).

I have found that single parent families fit in quite well now. With a 50% divorce rate, many, many kids will be in a single parent family at least once during their lifetime. Families are smaller with fewer siblings around.

Are the changes good or bad? I'm not sure, but with increasing living costs, family structure has been forced to change. Many moms can't afford to stay at home anymore.

Rather than focusing on the negative, I think it is well to work with what we have --- what God has given us -- and create the best growing and living situation for our children, whether we are couples, singles, divorced, remarried, adoptive parents, whatever! --

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth! ---