Divorce and family breakdown were virtually unheard of just 100years ago. Now, however,almost half of all marriages fail. This phenomenon issymptomatic of the growing distance between family members in modern society.In this essay, I intend to explore the sources of thisproblem along with somepossible solutions to it.
Chief among the causes of this problem is the modern lifestyle.Today's parents have towork harder than those of previous generations tosupport their families. Traditionally, oneparent assumed the role ofbreadwinner, while the other-typically the mother-acted as thehomemaker.Recently, though, double income families have become the norm. Consequently,anincreasing number of children now grow up in a parentless environment. Littlewonder, then,that they feel alienated. Another contributing factor is thepassive and solitary nature of manymodern forms of entertainment.
In order to solve this sense of alienation within families, Ibelieve we must first address itsroot causes. Perhaps the most effectivemethod of doing this would be for governments tooffer financial incentives toparents who choose to remain at home and take care of theirfamilies.Admittedly, such incentives would probably not fully compen
sate couples for lostincome; however, they would at least soften the hardship of living on a singleincome andprovide an alternative for parents who would rather remain at homebut are unable to do sobecause of financial constraints. One further measurewould be to promote more interactiveleisure activities in the communitythrough public education campaigns.
In conclusion, I believe that this is clearly a problem of suchcomplexity that no solution islikely in the short term. However, I believethat the measures outlined above would constitute agood first step.