History of Families and Family Resource Management

By emmarehm
  • 1700 BCE

    Origins of Family

    Origins of Family
    The origins of the family are unclear. However, some have suggested there is evidence families have existed for thousands, even millions of years.

  • Pre Industrial Revolution

    Pre Industrial Revolution
    In the US the preindustrial family was an economic unit. Those who lived together were needed to help each other provide for their existence. Families sometimes included non blood related members to aid with children or housework. Children also would be sent to help others do these things as well.

  • Industrial Revolution

    Industrial Revolution
    After the industrial revolution, work was not centered in the home. Men would go away to work and family roles became defined. The middle class emerged and woman's clear roles were formed as housekeepers, and mother, as well as subservient to their husbands. Children were also expected to work outside of home during this time as well.

  • Ellen Swallow Richards

    Ellen Swallow Richards
    Was chosen as the first president of the newly created American Homes Economic Association

  • Depression and War

    Depression and War
    The stability of families was tested by the Great Depression, as unemployment and lower wages forced Americans to delay marriage and having children. The divorce rate fell during this time because it was expensive and few could afford it. Some families adjusted to the economic downturn by returning to a cooperative family economy. Many children took part-time jobs and many wives supplemented the family income.

  • All-American Family

    All-American Family
    The All-American Family was created and put an emphasis on the family unit and marriage.This time period saw younger marriages, more kids, and fewer divorces. The average age for women to marry was 20, divorce rates stabilized, and the birth rate doubled.

  • Emergence of the Feminist Perspective

    Emergence of the Feminist Perspective
    With the Civil Rights Movement and the dramatic increase of women in the workplace we started seeing a shift in the roles of the home.

  • The Uphill

    Rapid change changed occur as popular culture was more relevant along with new gadgets for adults and children. Life seemed to sway away from the ‘traditional’ family life and this was becoming normal. Women were also use to the way in which society was changing and was becoming more or less as equal as men.

  • Families Today

    We are at a point where the term family is very fluid, and constantly changing. Researchers struggle to label the norm for this term.

  • Cites