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January 15, 2022

 I was raised in a large family with five siblings, a father that worked to provide for our needs and a mother who stayed at home to care for and raise my siblings and me. Growing up in this environment I learned what a huge blessing it is to have parents who love and support me, siblings to learn from and play with, and to overall have a build-in support system within the walls of my own home. As a kid, I thought this family life was normal but have now realized that my family experience is no longer normal but is now more rare than common. In the last couple of decades, there has been a huge shift in what we define as family and how they are built. Many individuals grew up in broken or less than ideal circumstances which have greatly impacted their desire to possibly get married and start a family of their own. These and many other trends have shaped the world we live in today and will continue to shape our future in regards to marriage, having children, building strong families, and ultimately our society as a whole. 


Recently I watched a video that discussed some of the common trends we are seeing today in relation to marriage and families. It talked about how many people are scared to get married and raise a family because of their turbulent family experiences growing up. They worry that they may not be able to create a better environment than the one they grew up in. Some see getting married and having children as a hope for someday in the far distant future but something that will come after getting a degree and building a successful career. And yet others see it as just an additional expense or nuisance to get married and have children that is not needed to have a successful life. It makes me sad to think this is becoming the common view of family relations. My family life was not perfect growing up but I feel the positives I experiences greatly outway the negatives of family life. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without my parents and all my siblings.


Another factor that has greatly impacted our society and our views about family has come from a shift of perspective worldwide of how success and accomplishments in life are defined and measured. As a society, we often see success measured in our academic achievements, career opportunities, and recognition from peers. For women especially this has greatly impacted when and if we even decide to get married and have children. Women are more commonly putting off getting married and having children until they have earned their degrees and started their careers. Even then it is a struggle to decide to have children because of the opportunity cost at that point in their lives that they would have o give up something things to make time for children in addition to a busy career. Since women have started getting married and having children later in life the time frame they can even bear children has made a huge impact on how many children there will be in the rising generation. This shift in culture has also impacted the way women are seen if they decide to stay at home to raise their children rather than be in the workforce. Many in our society think less of mothers who decided to be stay-at-home and raise their children. This is just a shortlist of how this shift of perspective has impacted the way we see success as a culture and has greatly impacted families in our society. 



I find it alarming to see that as a culture we are turning away from marriage and families and instead focusing more on our individual growth and accomplishments. From my experience growing up in a family, I found the most joy when I took the time to build strong bonds with my parents, brother, and sisters. My fear is as our culture and society continue to shift away from families we may miss the opportunity to find the most joy by building strong relationships within families of our own! I hope we can all find ways to make our family relations a priority! 


Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below!


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