Assignment 2

Part 1 Assignment 2
1) Describe 1 or 2 highlights that struck you from the report. Do not cut and paste from the report, use your own words.
I thought it was interesting that the amount of married couples with no children is expected to increase.  As I get older I realize that this is understandable for some because of fertility rates and economic reasons.  I have always wanted to get married and have children and I know that my friends want to do the same so at first it was shocking to me to think that rates of married couples with children would be decreasing.

2) Were you surprised by the data/findings on the chart or are they in line with what you would have expected?
Before doing the readings I probably would have been surprised but after looking at the highlights I found that the data was what I expected.

3) What do you notice on the chart?
That both single and 2 parent households with children have decreased since 1995.

3a.) What types of families are more typical (higher percentage) compared to 1995.
In 2010 more typical families consisted of being married with no children, other family households with no children, living alone with no children and living with non relatives only and no children.

3b.) What types of families are becoming less the norm (percentage decreases from 1995 to 2010.
Two parent households with children and mother with children households are decreasing.

4) What type of family do you expect to be living in, in 5 years? In 10 years? When you are 70 years old?
In 5 years I would say that I expect to be married with no children.  In 10 years I plan to be married with children and when I am 70 I plan to be living in a household with my husband and the children have moved out and started their own families.

Part 2 Assignment 2
1) What is different about women today versus 40 years ago?
Women are getting married and having children much later.  More women are going to school and furthering their education as well as starting careers.  Women are leaving home and moving into bigger cities.

2) What is the norm in terms of what women are doing and when they are marrying?
Now women go to college so they can have a career.  They are moving into cities and living alone or with roommates and getting married and having children at later ages than in the past.

3) Do women work more or less than in the past etc?
Women are working more than in the past, typically long hours in the office.

4) Next, please write about what you plan to do as you finish school and reach adulthood. Will you work and get your career started and then marry or the other way around?
As I finish school I hope to be able to get a job soon after.  I will probably get my career started and then marry shortly after.  Once I am settled into my career and am married I plan to have children and continue working.

And - just for fun: if you are female: describe which Sex and the City girl you most identify with and why. You can also note your favorite boyfriend/husband. If you are male which main boyfriends do you most identify with and why or which female character would you most like to date. Would you date marry any of them? Why or why not?
I would say that I identity most with Charlotte.  I have always wanted to find love, get married and start a family and that is what she searches for throughout the series.

Part 3 Assignment 2
1) Tell us about one change in age at marriage, or how many people marry, or childbearing, or cohabitation, or in divorce, or in aging.
39.7% of births in the U.S. are to unmarried women.

2) How does the latest research topic you chose differ from the past research on that chosen topic -- as noted in the article?
In 1950 the rate was only 4% of births were to unmarried women, compared to 39.7% in 2007.

3) Who did the article author cite in describing the newest research on your chosen topic?
The author cited U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 2005, 2009b.