Single—parent Families Today we tell about the major change in the American family．It

Single—parent Families

Today we tell about the major change in the American family．It is the increase in the number of families with only one parent．

_______（1）．One of the reasons for this is the increasing number of women who have children without being married．The United States Census Bureau recently released a new report on the situa-tion．_____ （2）．It said 24 percent of them had at least one child．Almost 4 million unmarried women in the United States are mothers．This is an increase of almost 60 percent in the past 10 years．

_______（3）．In the past，women were expected to marry and remain home with their children．They depended on their husbands to eam money to support the family．Experts say women were pushed into marriage by many pans of American society．_______（4）

______（5）．They say American women have fewer economic reasons for marrying than they did years ago．This is because more women work outside the home today than in the past，and there is less of difference between the earnings of men and women in the United States．Other expert believe there is social and cultural explanation for the increase in unmarried mothers in America．One explanation is that the woman’s rights movement gave many women a new feeling 0f independence．Another explanation is the society is more willing t0 accept unmarried mothers than it did in the past．Un-married mothers and their children no longer live in shame．

A．About 22 percent of American children now live with only one parent．

B．Experts have tried to explain the reasons for the increase．

C．The report included women between the ages of 18 and 44 who have never been married．

D．Experts say this is not true today．

E．A woman’s family expected her to be married，so did religious groups，customs and laws．

F．There has been much debate in the United States about the single—parent family．

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