The "traditional" American family: implications for marketing

The American family has undergone a major transition over the past several decades. While the relative importance of married couples predominates, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of adults who are divorced, and widowhood continues to increase in line with the evergrowing aged U.S. population. Among the changes in the family structure are a declining role for two-parent families with children more single-parent households and an increasing role for grandparents in many family situations. Within the two-parent family there are changes as well with more working mothers, an increase in women householders and, in some cases, more involvement in the child-rearing process on the part of the male parent. The traditional two-parent family, nevertheless, retains considerable economic clout, benefiting from two working marriage partners.