Changing American Families The children are leaving for school just as father grabs his briefcase and is off to work. Meanwhile, mother finishes clearing the breakfast dishes and embarks on her day filled with PTA responsibilities, household chores, and preparation of a well-balanced dinner to be enjoyed by all when father arrives home promptly at 6:00. This would have to be a scene from "Father Knows Best", "Leave It to Beaver" or that of a family during or before the sixties. Only a small minority of contemporary families fit this mold of being a "nuclear" family today. Until the 1960's most Americans shared a common set of beliefs about family life; a family should consist of a