Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
~ 133 ~
THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY UNDER SIEGE
Sweeping as the change may be, the phenomenon
of working mothers is the least of the shock to the
traditional American family over the past several
decades. Though married couple families still
heavily predominate, that predominance has
dropped from 87 to 80 percent in just two decades
as “other family types” became more common. The
“male householder with no spouse present” from 11
to 16.5 percent. This varies by race: among black
Americans, for instance, only the barest majority of
families were married couples in 1989. The overall
result: in 1990, fully one quarter of all American
children resided with just one parent.
Already climbing in the 1960s, the divorce rate in
America literally soared from 1970 to 1990. In 1990,
the divorce ratio (i.e., the number of currently
divorced persons per 1000 currently married
persons) was at an all-time high of 166 for women
and 118 for men. In that year 56 percent of
American women over age 18 were married, with
husband present; 3.7 percent were married with
husband absent; 12.1 percent were widowed; 9.3
