The Increase in Small Families in the United States
             The number of small families in the United States has increased dramatically over
             the past few decades. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the average American
             household now has only 2.62 people, compared to 4.93 in 1890 and 3.37 in 1950. There
             are several reasons for this statistic. One is that couples are simply having fewer children.
             Another is the coinciding rise in the divorce rate. Yet another is the staggering number of
             Couples today generally have fewer children than their counterparts did 100 or
             even 50 years ago. It was not uncommon at the turn of the century to see parents with
             five or more children. Nowadays the rising cost of living and time-consuming careers
             make most modern parents balk at the idea of having a family with five or more children.
             Most are content to have only one or two.
             The rising divorce rate is another factor in the family size shrinking. Statistics
             show that the number of divorced adults quadrupled from 4.3 million in 1970 to 17.4
             million in 1994. Often these couples have had children and the family is split into two
             Many women today are having babies out of wedlock creating single parent
             families. These are perhaps the best example of the small family problem in America.
             Many of these single parents raise their child or children alone, which adds to the number
             of small families and brings the average household number down.
             Purposefully smaller families, rising divorce rates, and more births out of wedlock
             are three key reasons why there are so many small families in the United States today.
             They are part of the reason families have been shrinking and most likely will continue to
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