family

the Census Bureau's definition of a "traditional" nuclear family (married moms and dads living with their biological children and no other relative in the home) is now in the minority (Haya El Nasser, USA Today). When writing and speaking about family, reflect contemporary realities; the family of nostalgia ("Father Knows Best," "Leave It to Beaver," "Ozzie and Harriet"), still pictured as a "real" family, was actually only an aberration (and not even enjoyed by everyone; one-fourth of all Americans lived in poverty—without food stamps) that predominated for several decades following World War II. "The treasured belief that American families were once simpler and more innocent than they are today still exerts a powerful emotional pull on us" (Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were). Susan Ohanian (Ms. Class) points out that "from George Washington on, we are a nation led by the products of single-parent families. George Washington was 11 when his father died (and Washington raised his own fatherless grandchildren); Thomas Jefferson was 14; Andrew Jackson's father died before he was born and his mother died when he was 14; Abraham Lincoln was 11 when his mother died." When dealing with children, speak of their families; don't specify parents, mothers, or fathers unless you know their situation. To distinguish between the family you grew up in and the family you presently live in, consider: birth family, childhood family, family of origin, original family, first family; present family, adult family. See also domestic partners, family values.