Assignment task: Your friend is getting married, and they confide in you that they see they look forward to a long happy life with their partner and 1.6 children. Gently explain using arguments from our readings and classroom discussion that they should have a backup plan. In your answer: (1) explain to your friend the confluence of very particular economic and cultural circumstances that made the nuclear family the dominant familial form in North America for a brief time, (2) the reasons this dominance did not last and why this type of family is increasingly 'fragile' and what this may mean for your future.
Your friend concedes you are correct but is confused about just what they and the rest of us might do. Explain both alternatives to this type of family that might offer more resilience, and the social and economic policies that might better support modern families.