| SINGLE-PARENT families have become a permanent | | | | Some observers state that this is the result of people's |
| and noticeable feature in many societies today.* As | | | | choices about how they live their lives, within a context |
| the traditional structure of husband, wife, and children | | | | of economic, cultural, and social change. |
| gives way to other forms of family life, demographers | | | | Let us consider some of these changes, as well as |
| and sociologists in many parts of the world are asking | | | | the choices being made. Pressures of life are a major |
| why. | | | | factor affecting people's lives. The outside world |
| Sociology professors Simon Duncan and Rosalind | | | | intrudes on their every waking hour. Time formerly |
| Edwards note that "long-term changes are taking | | | | spent on family activities is now spent on the Internet, |
| place in family patterns and gender relations." Why? | | | | in front of the TV, on the phone, in the car, on the run. |