The 60's were wonderful. Everybody had an Afro, even the girls. Black lights would make a white tee shirt glow and everything was psychedelic. Go-go boots were hot and bellbottoms were the craze. Families were intact -- traditional families.
No more.Â
The latest survey on families from Pew Research finds that just 46% of kids who are under 18 live in "traditional" families headed by hetrosexual couples who are in a first marriage. Going back to the year 1960 it was 73%.
Having kids before you're married is up as well from the 60's; 41% of kids are born outside of marriage, up 5%.
Lots of people are staying single. In fact the amount of people who aren't married is at a record high. In 2012, one-in-five adults ages 25 and older had never been married. In 1960, only about one-in-ten adults (9%) in that age range had never been married.
These days, 15% of kids are living in "blended" families, meaning their are in a second (or third, or fourth) marriage.Â
Single parents
One of the biggest changes in the way families are structured now is single-parent households.Â
Today, 34% of children are living with an unmarried parent - up from just 9% in 1960, and 19% in 1980.Â
Grandparents as parents has become a new phenomenon. Years ago it wasn't uncommon for a traditional family to be living with grandparents. Now it is grandparents doing the parenting minus the parents. That translates to the remaining 5% living with grandparents -- no parents to be found.
Gay couples were not broken out in the study.
How they voted
Yes
Yes