Definition of Family

How We Define Family Now
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family is "a group of two or more people who reside together and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption". Whenever we think of a family we picture a happy family that consist of a father, mother, and then one or two children and maybe a pet. We believe this is how a family is to be because this was imbedded in our minds by sitcoms such as Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and The Donna Reed Show. The definition of family has changed throughout the years though; it used to be where the wife of the family stayed home and took care of the house and children, but now in this century some women are the breadwinners in their family. It used to be where the father would come home from a full time job and just relax at home with his family; now some men have trouble finding work and maintaining a full time job and are expected to help around the house. Dinner around a table talking about their day was what it was like decades ago, but now its dinner on TV trays in separate rooms with barely any conversation to be heard over the television. Are families drifting apart with the use of everyday technology and their lifestyles?
All families are different; they have different cultures, beliefs, ideals, and pasts. Although the picture of what a family is supposed to look like is changing, up until quite recently most Americans of our era considered the nuclear family as the ideal family to have. Men and women were expected to marry and raise children so that they can have a good future to take care of them later on. The children, upon reaching adulthood, were to leave their parents homes and follow the example they were showed their whole life, and thus the cycle began all over again. Family values are different for every ethnicity. An example would be that Latino and Hispanic families are where the child will grow up to be more successful than their parents and take care of them when they can no...