Furstenberg Frank F
University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Future Child. 2010 Spring;20(1):67-87. doi: 10.1353/foc.0.0038.
Frank Furstenberg examines how the newly extended timetable for entering adulthood is affecting, and being affected by, the institution of the Western, particularly the American, family. He reviews a growing body of research on the family life of young adults and their parents and draws out important policy implications of the new schedule for the passage to adulthood. Today, says Furstenberg, home-leaving, marriage, and the onset of childbearing take place much later in the life span than they did during the period after World War II. After the disappearance of America's well-paying unskilled and semi-skilled manufacturing jobs during the 1960s, youth from all economic strata began remaining in school longer and marrying and starting their own families later. Increasing numbers of lower-income women did not marry at all but chose, instead, non-marital parenthood-often turning to their natal families for economic and social support, rather than to their partners. As the period of young adults' dependence on their families grew longer, the financial and emotional burden of parenthood grew heavier. Today, regardless of their income level, U.S. parents provide roughly the same proportion of their earnings to support their young adult children. Unlike many nations in Europe, the United States, with its relatively underdeveloped welfare system, does not invest heavily in education, health care, and job benefits for young adults. It relies, instead, on families' investments in their own adult children. But as the transition to adulthood becomes more protracted, the increasing family burden may prove costly to society as a whole. Young adults themselves may begin to regard childbearing as more onerous and less rewarding. The need to provide greater support for children for longer periods may discourage couples from having additional children or having children at all. Such decisions could lead to lower total fertility, ultimately reduce the workforce, and furthdr aggravate the problem of providing both for increasing numbers of the elderly and for the young. U.S. policy makers must realize the importance of reinforcing the family nest and helping reduce the large and competing demands that are being placed on today's parents.
弗兰克·富斯滕伯格研究了新延长的成年时间表如何影响西方尤其是美国家庭制度,以及如何受到该制度的影响。他回顾了关于年轻人及其父母家庭生活的越来越多的研究,并总结出这一新时间表对成年过渡的重要政策影响。富斯滕伯格说,如今,离家、结婚和生育的时间比第二次世界大战后的时期晚得多。20世纪60年代美国高薪非熟练和半熟练制造业工作岗位消失后,各经济阶层的年轻人开始在学校停留更长时间,结婚和组建自己家庭的时间也更晚。越来越多的低收入女性根本不结婚,而是选择非婚生育,她们往往向自己的原生家庭寻求经济和社会支持,而不是向伴侣寻求支持。随着年轻人对家庭的依赖期变长,为人父母的经济和情感负担也变得更重。如今,无论收入水平如何,美国父母拿出大致相同比例的收入来支持他们成年的孩子。与欧洲许多国家不同,美国的福利体系相对不发达,没有在年轻人的教育、医疗保健和工作福利方面进行大量投资。相反,它依赖家庭对自己成年子女的投资。但随着向成年的过渡变得更加漫长,不断增加的家庭负担可能对整个社会来说成本高昂。年轻人自己可能开始认为生育更加繁重且回报更少。需要在更长时间内为孩子提供更多支持,这可能会使夫妻不愿生育更多孩子或根本不生孩子。这样的决定可能导致总生育率降低,最终减少劳动力,并进一步加剧既要赡养越来越多的老年人又要抚养年轻人的问题。美国政策制定者必须认识到加强家庭并帮助减轻当今父母面临的巨大且相互竞争的需求的重要性。