The fading of romantic love 3. The changing role of women 4. Sexual permissiveness B. Structural Explanations Structural explanations focus on changes emanating from changes in the economy. In the latter half of the twentieth century, economic and social arrangements are radically different and those differences demand the existence of a different kind of family structure. As the economy industrializes and becomes more urban, children become economic liabilities.
Smaller families are thus more advantageous.
The state, corporations, schools, day care centers, welfare agencies, and the media have taken over functions that the family used to perform. Parents have little control over the operation and ideology of these institutions. Geographic Mobility Workers are expected to go where the jobs are. Social Mobility Industrial society allows people to interact with a variety of groups and thus form unique bonds, but these new types of family unite may not be consistent with the traditional family you left behind. An example is found in the traditional marriage vows.