Where do we get the idea of the model family? Most people would agree that the model family is a mom, dad, two kids, and a dog all living in a moderate size house. This is further enhanced by Stephanie Coontz in her essay “What we really Miss About the 1950’s” Coontz gives statistics that directly relate to why we look up to the 1950’s such as, “…when the average 30-year-old man could buy a median-priced home on only 15-18 percent of his salary.” This is in contrast to today’s world and economy, a lot of Americans are struggling to provide, because their salary is not adequate enough.
On the other hand, Coontz explains some of the realities of what the 1950’s was actually like. The fact that “…tripling nonmarital birth rates between 1940 and 1957.” This is a huge number of people who were eager to see loved ones come back from the war. Another startling fact the Coontz brings up is that “…high school graduation rates were lower in the 1950’s than they are today…” The main difference between then and now is that people did not necessarily need a good education to earn a decent paying job. There were construction jobs, as well as steel factories that would provide good wages for a hard works job.
In some aspects the 1950’s were a glorious decade, but in other instances they were no better than any other decade. Each decade has something that goes wrong, and Americans learn from their mistakes and make corrections for the future. This is what the 1950’s did; they took the mistakes from past decades and made the best of them. This is why Americans look up to the 1950’s as the ideal model family.
I agree, there is a large difference between the lifestyle of the 1950's and today. I'm glad you brought up the point that work was much more industrialized then than now and today requires more education to obtain a job with higher wages.
ReplyDeleteI think that the statistics about the graduation rate and non marital birth rates are startling. Its amazing to see how much our generations have changed and how those statistics can affect us today.
ReplyDeleteI really like your last paragraph. I like how you said that parts of the 1950s were good, but also that parts of it weren't good, and how every decade has something that goes wrong in it. I agree that it is important to look at history in order to better prepare for the future. I believe that is why the 1950s are important and, like you said, why Americans look at the 1950s for the idea of the model family.
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