Families Come In All Scenarios

by Kim Seidel

During dinner with my parents, my mom, a trendy Baby Boomer in her early 60s, brought up how “different” families seem today.

“A lot of kids aren’t getting married these days,” she began. “If you weren’t married right out of high school, you were considered odd. People marry older. And a lot of those who get married aren’t having any kids…”

My mom, who raised three daughters and has been married for 41 years, doesn’t need to be Mark Penn, one of the most influential pollsters and trend-spotters in the country, to realize the differences among families these days. Penn is the man behind identifying “Soccer Moms” as a crucial constituency in President Clinton’s 1996 re-election.

Penn discusses more than 70 social, political, and business “microtrends” in his fascinating new book, “Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes” (September 2007-Hatchette Book Group) written with E. Kinney Zalesne.

Penn believes that a microtrend—just 1 percent of the population, or 3 million people—can create an impact capable of changing the world.

Family Scenarios Differ
Penn says it’s the small forces that truly shape the big changes we’re experiencing today and will tomorrow. Many of these microtrends can be found within our own families and some are featured in this issue of Coulee Parenting Connection.

A diversity of families extend beyond the traditional moms and dads and children to include grandparents, stepparents, adoptive parents, and even pets.

Our animal friends are an important part of our families. Another microtrend is “Pet Parents.” Pets are more pampered (think doggie day cares and spas), as they become more vital to family life.

In fact, many pets are replacing children in households. “Pet-owning households in America are more than double the percentage of households with children,” he says.

And increasingly, Penn continues, women now live alone or as head of households. My sister is a single mom and does an outstanding job raising her 10-year-old son. My other sister—they’re twins—lives with them and helps with child care and housework. They’re a family.

Family Microtrends
Penn agrees that a lot of attention has been given recently to Old New Moms, those first-time moms who have babies in their late 30s and into their 40s.

Move over Old New Moms, Penn says, and make room for the Old New Dads, who don’t face the biological clock like mothers. The number of new dads over age 40 has skyrocketed. Having a dad who’s 62 at his child’s college graduation is now commonplace.

Overall, dads of all ages are spending more time with their kids; those numbers have been growing since the 1970s. Everyone benefits from that microtrend, especially children.

The increase of interracial families is another microtrend cited in Penn’s book. Those under age 30 are the most diverse generation in history.

Over 3 million marriages are interracial, and loving across race also extends to children. Between 1998–2004 the percentage of foster care children in America adopted transracially grew from 14 to 26 percent. Between 1990–2005, the number of children adopted by U.S. parents from other countries tripled, rising to 18 percent of all adoptions, or 20,000 families annually.

“And with 83 percent of Americans saying they approve of mixed-race marriages, this trend represents a sea of change in American attitudes and tolerance,” Penn says. Now that’s a powerful microtrend for all families to benefit from.

Kim Seidel is associate editor of Coulee Parenting Connection.