Emerging issues in Society

Female-headed households and extreme conformity

The family has a primary role in the socialization of an individual.  However, the ideal family model in which two parents raise children is decreasing slowly, as other models of “family” enter the arena.  One quarter of all children live with one parent, and the large majority (87%) of those live with only the mother (Anderson, 2011).  The major problems in the female –headed households are economic pressures and the threat of poverty.  Although women have the legal right to earn as much as their male counterparts, there is still inequality in the amount that a female earns.  In addition, there is a lack of federal support for the female-headed household and other resources to aid the mother.  Childcare is increasingly expensive and the mother is not around the house as frequently to educate her kids.  Wages have decreased for young workers and since most unmarried mothers are young, they are likely to be poor and put their children at a disadvantage.  Furthermore, there is generally little support financially from the father.

The consequences of poverty and lack of parental support are significant in a young child’s life.  Without supervision directly from the mother, the children are likely to pick up values from other sources, including their peers and the media.  Since violence and high standards of beauty are portrayed in the media, the youth might be more likely to conform to those ideals.  An emerging problem is high conformity to the ideals of the media, resulting in high violence from young boys and eating disorders in females, as they try to reach a “perfect” model body (as examples).  Poverty in general puts children at risk of malnutrition and other complications, including lack of formal education, due to the expenses of college.  Overall, the increasing prevalence of female-headed households and extreme conformity to the ideals of society are two issues that are becoming more apparent in the world.  As the foundation of society, the family has an important role to teach children morals and values.  The breakdown of the traditional family may lead to economic and personal financial hardship.

Reference:

Andersen, ML, & Taylor, HF. (2011). Sociology: the essentials. Belmont, CA: Wadswoth Cengage Learning.