Date of Award

Spring 1978

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Committee Director

Dorothy E. Johnson

Committee Member

Peter C. Stewart

Committee Member

James R. Sweeney

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.H47T458

Abstract

After World War II, various forces developed or gained momentum which affected families in the fifties. In the 1950s, many men witnessed a decline of authority in the family unit, while women and children achieved new positions of importance. Also, certain values of families deviated from those of earlier generations. Furthermore, family members had more spare time for leisure activities within and outside the home.

Throughout the decade, many young people. began to date, go steady, engage in premarital sex, and marry sooner than in former years. The marriage rate remained fairly high in the decade and the birth rate was record breaking. At the same time, there was a lower divorce rate than in the 1940s. All these trends, and the forces affecting the family received much attention in the popular periodicals of the decade.

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DOI

10.25777/s8hz-pa66

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