Attitudes About Marriage.

Almost every society
has certain traditional
ideas about marriage.
For example, most
societies expect men
and women to marry.
In addition,
most cultures
have traditions about
the role and the main
duties of a husband
and a wife.
Traditionally, the husband is expected
to earn a living, and the wife is expected
to manage the household and raise children.

Many Americans disregard traditional marriage patterns.
For example, a large number of married couples share
responsibilities that have been traditionally handled by
either the husband or the wife. An increasing number of
married women have paying jobs and help support their
families financially. In 1940, about 15 percent of all
married women earned money.

In the early 1990's, about 60 percent held a full- or
part-time job. More and more husbands share responsibilities
traditionally handled by women, such as cooking, doing
housework, and caring for the children.

On the average, men and women stay single longer than they
once did. In 1950, men married at an average age of 23, and
women married at an average age of 20. By the mid-1990's,
the average marriage age was about 26 for men and about
age 24 for women.