The Changing American Family

16           The Third Wave family: This new system is harder to describe because it is not based on a single dominant family form but on a dazzling diversity of house­hold structures.

17       For example, look at what is happening to single life. Between 1970 and 1978 alone, the number of people aged 14 to 34 who live alone nearly tripled in the United States. Today fully one-fifth of all households are live-alones. Some are alone out of necessity, others prefer it. Then there are the child-free couples. As James Ramey of the Center for Policy Research has pointed out, we are see­ing a massive shift from "child-centered" to "adult-centered" homes. The num­ber of couples who deliberately decide not to have children—whether for economic, psychological, or ecological reasons—has increased dramatically.