The decline of the family unit in western society and why we must act now
The family unit is in crisis in western society and its risking stability, prosperity and order
Why successful and lasting civilisations are built upon strong familial structures
We in the west tend to take many aspects of our lives for granted. Things such as shelter, food, robust infrastructure, high literacy rates, ever increasing life expectancy and individual liberty. These are huge achievements that were a rare luxury not even a hundred years ago. This security and prosperity of our civilisation tends to go unnoticed because it simply functions as intended. It is only in dire situations such as a war or pandemic, where we truly begin to be grateful for the level of prosperity that we have in the west. It is important to ask ourselves, what cultural conditions got us to where we are today, and how we can make sure to maintain this momentum going into the future.
Whether we realise it or not, much of our society has been built on a Christian value structure. Our morals, values and ethics come from this background whether you consider yourself an atheist, agnostic, spiritual or an evangelical Christian. One of the core tenants of the Christianity is the importance of family, monogamy and serving a higher purpose in unity. These values maintained relative stability in Europe during the middle ages for over a thousand years. It also gave birth to the renaissance, enlightenment, the modern education system and the Gregorian calendar. A key factor for achieving such advancements was the secure structure of families which allowed most children to grow up in stable environments. This in turn allowed children to become healthy and useful members of society.
Strong family structures also give people a sense of security, belonging and higher purpose. They can also transmit cultural beliefs and customs from one generation to the next, preserving a civilisation's uniqueness and continuity. A study published in the Journal of Economic Growth found that a strong family structure can lead to economic growth, as families serve as a primary unit for the accumulation and transfer of human capital. We can conclude, a robust family unit is vital for prosperous civilisations because it serves as the foundation for social order and stability.
In-tact families are on the decline
Since the 1960s, in-tact families have been on the decline in the west. This may be attributed to various causes such as the invention of the birth control pill, second wave feminism, as well as the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, which made the act of divorce a lot easier and more culturally accepted. It is important to note the positive aspects of these movements. Some of these include, women being able to choose to focus on careers instead of only being home-makers, as well as having the ability to leave marriages that were genuinely life threatening due to domestic violence, and many more. The acceptance and encouragement of women to enter the workforce also lead to massive economic growth due to higher productivity.
Despite these benefits, we have to consider the wider affect these movements have had on our society. If we observe the divorce-to-marriage chart below, we can see that divorces have skyrocketed since the 1960s. If we look closely, one hundred years ago, the divorce-marriage ratio was 5 times lower than in 2020. This would mean that there were 5 times more in tact families compared to today.
Another contributing factor to the decline of family values was the sexual revolution and the destigmatisation of casual sex. A culture that is accepting of such acts naturally strays further from the family structure as marriage is no longer a prerequisite to getting your needs met. This would in turn devalue the importance of the family as a whole since a person that is not your husband/wife can still satisfy your sexual needs. Casual sex also has other unwanted physical and psychological effects on all parties involved. Some of these include unwanted children, STDs and feelings of objectification. Such massive cultural shifts have great effects on society and often times, are not observed until a few generations later.
In his book Sex and Culture, ethnologist J. D. Unwin analyses 80 societies around the world and their level of sexual restraint. He was able to find a correlation between the cultural achievement of a society and the sexual restraint it practised, with the most sexually restrictive societies being the most culturally dynamic. The author's theory was that a lack of sexual constraint led to social and cultural decline. In fact, he also found that it took about three to four generations for societies to decline after the relaxation of sexual restrictions.
The effects of familial fragmentation on wider society
As previously mentioned, strong family units are vital for the development of children into healthy, productive and free-thinking adults. When the family disintegrates, the opposite occurs. If we observe the incarceration rate in the US, we can see that the data correlates with the high divorce-to-marriage ratio. In addition, the children that were conceived during the 60s and 70s had the highest chance of incarceration in all of US history. It could be argued that this was the result of the increase in population, however, this is not the case. The US population increase has been more gradual and not as steep.
The rise of fatherlessness and its effects on children
Children today have the highest risk of growing up without their biological father. This is because, in the majority instances of a divorce, a mother will get custody over their children. We can observe the evidence for this in the graph below.
Majority of children that have divorced parents end up living with their mothers while spending minimal time with their fathers. In addition, it is worth nothing that almost half of all children (41%) are now born out of wedlock1 due to the normalisation of pre-marital sex and cohabitation. These factors combined are contributing to the issue of fatherlessness since fathers are not culturally and legally required to stay and raise their children. Countless studies have demonstrated the importance of fathers and the positive effects they have on children. Some positive outcomes of having involved fathers include less teen pregnancies amongst girls and lower crime rate amongst boys. The negatives of not having a father present in the home are staggering. 80% of rapists, 65% of youth suicides and 82% of school shooters2 all have one thing in common, fatherlessness.
What can we do individually to contribute to a stable future
We have discussed the importance of family structures for prosperous civilisations, how certain shifts in culture resulted in the decline of the family unit and some of the negative aspects emerging from this decline. It is important to maintain the bedrock of the family unit in order to see humanity progress further peacefully and explore the vastness of life and the universe. Deviating from this foundation may result in greater suffering, chaos and uncertainty and will more than likely stifle humanity’s progress towards the greater good. I encourage the reader to self-reflect on what their greatest purpose is and do their part in this existence, raise healthy children both physically and mentally and educate your close ones on the critical importance of the family unit.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/us/for-women-under-30-most-births-occur-outside-marriage.html
https://americafirstpolicy.com/latest/20220825-fatherlessness-and-crime