Problems of Modernity. The Uncertainties of Family Status in the United States

Abstract

As a general rule, Americans tend to be ethnocentric, focusing primarily on the past, present and future of the United States, and rarely contemplating the world outside their borders except as it relates to them. Accordingly, the notion of the “European family” is not a highly developed construct for Americans. When Americans do think about European families, they envision a more traditional family structure than is the norm in the United States. The truth is, however, that families, and particularly family policy, in Europe and the United States are becoming more similar over time.