ABSTRACT
About a quarter of a century ago, traditional families in the United States numbered about 60 percent of the population. Contemporary estimates suggest that this count is down to about 7 percent. Over these years, family configurations and life have changed quite dramatically. The dwindling traditional family—characterized as having two parents, one at home, and two (or at most, three) children—is gradually being replaced by a preponderance of two-career couples, single parents, and so-called blended families, with peculiar economic, emotional, social, and interpersonal dynamics which are said to affect parents’ decisions about what is considered best for their young children (Apple, 1982; Hirsch, 1987).
