The Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life

several factors that contribute to the decline in the amount of time that children spend outdoors. Over the past fifty to sixty years the dynamics of the American family has changed. Families today face more challenges and often to respond in ways that may seem logical but that pose potential risks to their children. In the Sixties the average family consisted of a working father, a stay at home mother and on average, 2.5 children. But today the family structure has changed. In the book, The Changing Rhythms of American Family Life, the author states that when considering how families have changed over the past several decades, two prominent factors emerge above the rest, an “increase in maternal employment and an increase in single parenting.”