ABSTRACT
The traditional nuclear family is still the family of choice for millions of Americans. As a social institution, the family has been "in decline" since the beginning of world history, gradually becoming weaker through losing social functions and power to other institutions such as church, government, and school. What is needed is a new social movement whose purpose is the promotion of families and family values within the new constraints of modern life. In the 1960s, however, four major social trends emerged to signal a widespread "flight" from both the ideal and the reality of the traditional nuclear family. These social trends include rapid fertility decline, the sexual revolution, the movement of mothers into the labor force, and the divorce revolution. Women who freely desire to spend much of their lives as mothers and housewives, outside the labor force, should not be economically penalized by public policy for making that choice.
