Families have worked hard the past 100 years to meet the many responsibilities involved in bringing up children. Though family goals may not have changed much over the years, there are big changes in how families meet those goals. Whether considering children, youth, mothers, or fathers, roles for every family member have been in transition.

Above left: 3-1912, Historical Photograph Collection, UI Library.

Children and Youth

In the 1800s, children spent most of their days working with their parents in the family trade. Most families lived on farms, where children began light chores even as preschoolers, gradually taking on more responsibility as they grew older. Families relied on children as helpers, and time spent together in work became an integral part of life for farm families. In the cities, children in low-income families often were involved in paid employment, in piecework at home or in the local factories and mines.

Families relied on children as helpers, and time spent together in work became an integral part of life for farm families.

However, the public school system began to grow in the late 1800s, as Americans recognized the need for educated citizens and workers. States required children to attend school in the early decades of the 20th Century, and by 1910 children 10 to 14 years of age generally attended school at least part of the year. As the time commitment to education grew, children had less and less time available for work. Children continued their extensive participation on family farms, but child labor laws in the early 20th Century barred children from working in factories and mines. Education was firmly established as the number one job of childhood.
However, schooling past primary school was too great a sacrifice for the many families that needed the income from teenage family members to make ends meet. Adolescents were widely involved in paid employment in the first decades of the 20th Century, turning their wages over to their parents to meet family needs. Farm families also needed their teenagers at home where they could help with farm production.

As a result, high school enrollment grew slowly in those years, with only 6 percent of young people graduating from high school in 1900. However, by the mid-’50s, 62 percent were high school graduates. A college education was even less accessible; about 4 percent of young adults finished college in 1920—a number that increased to only 8 percent by 1950. Among today’s young people, 85 percent graduate from high school and 28 percent from college.
With more and more young people in school, teenagers withdrew from paid employment. In the 1950s only 5 percent of adolescents held jobs during the school year. However, the last two decades have marked a resurgence of teen employment. Currently, a majority of high school juniors and seniors work and go to school at the same time.

Among today’s young people, 85 percent graduate from high school and 28 percent from college.

Throughout the 20th Century, Americans struggled to find the balance between work and school that adequately prepares young people for adulthood and at the same time addresses the income needs of families. In recent years, earning power has become more closely linked to educational attainment. In the past 20 years, those with college diplomas gained 14 percent in wages, while high school graduates lost 10 percent, and high school dropouts lost a devastating 24 percent in income. At the start of the century, an employer would have had a hard time finding a high school graduate to hire, but today an adult who is not a high school graduate is barely employable.

Mom and Dad

Throughout the 20th Century, mothers and fathers worked as a team to meet the twin family goals of raising children and supporting the family. In the mid-1800s childrearing was seen as no special task, as children were involved with parents in the work of family life. However, by the start of the 20th Century, children were thought of as innocents to be cherished. The job of nurturing children became the domain of mothers, and building a haven for their development was seen as a full-time job. Advice columns and classes were developed to help mothers do their best at this important job.

Below right: Learning about the basic food groups now is a classroom activity. Photo: Andy Arenz

Paid employment for married women dropped to an all time low at the start of the 20th Century, with 5 to 9 percent of women in the paid work force in 1900. But even in those years, low-income mothers worked as the family struggled to make ends meet. With the Depression of the ’30s, family destitution drew many women back into the work force, and the expanded need for labor in World War II further increased employment for women. Maternal employment dropped briefly after the war, then was on the rise once again, with a four-fold increase by 1960. By the end of the century, the working mom had become the norm of American life. In today’s economy, the employment of mothers allows families to maintain the standard of living they would have enjoyed on a single salary in the 1950s. In female-headed households, mom’s income is even more critical to family well-being.

The family roles of fathers changed when work moved out of the home and into the factory with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Fathers had been actively involved in childrearing when work was based at home, but men became less available for such an active role because of their long days at work in the factory. Nurturing children became the domain of mothers during this period, as fathers were sidelined at home. Fathers were seen as so ill-suited to childrearing that children were sent to live in orphanages or with relatives if their mother died. The father might bring the children back into his household when he remarried and there was a woman in the house again.

The rising rate of maternal employment in today’s world means that dads are sole breadwinners in fewer and fewer households. With mothers working outside the home, fathers are becoming involved once again in childrearing. While only 12 percent of men found work to conflict with family life in 1977, 72 percent complained of work/family conflicts 12 years later. The recent increase in the number of single dads is further indication of men’s expanding roles in raising children. Today’s fathers are finding new family roles as they work to develop a strong home base for family life.

A look at the past century of family life shows remarkable resilience as parents and children alike worked together to meet the challenges of the day. The historical record shows that American families have been dynamic in response to social change, developing new roles and strategies to meet contemporary needs. American families no doubt will need to show the same level of resourcefulness as they deal with the changes of the new century ahead.
 

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