Thread-bare families a Social Justice concern?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Captain_America
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Captain_America

Guest
Critics have long knocked the so-called nuclear family. In truth, they’ve got some sting.

Now it seems there are THINNER and THINNER nuclear families.

I mean by this, single mom “families” and families with a paucity of children, who are isolated at great distance from relatives.

Should this be a social justice concern?

I think for many, we pick jobs near our family and it’s good to have jobs near families. It’s also good to have wages sufficient to pay one’s expenses!
 
I’m curious why you put families in quotes. Are families with one parent not a family? Let’s not start knocking single moms. I feel it undermines the Catholic message of life.
 
I think we Catholics should promote the ideal - the nuclear family: mom and dad, married with children - without disregarding or denigrating the reality - that there are an increasing number of what we would traditionally call “broken” families or alternative families who need our support and encouragement. I see both as social justice issues.

There is nothing all that new about bread-winners needing to go “where the work is”, and sometimes having to leave family behind for a time when they do. It is not the ideal situation, I agree.
 
I think one can see how the spread of birth control weakened the family, and the Church has always been against abc, so I agree that it’s a social justice issue and that we are for what it takes to fix it.

Most families in poverty are single-parent families. Single-parent families are more likely to spend at least some time in poverty. And the children in single-parent families are more likely to fall into some sort of trouble (learning troubles, behavioral issues) than two-parent families, even when other factors are taken into account.

The state does have an interest in marriage, as marriage provides the future of the state in the best way. The state should therefore promote and support marriage. Right now, this is not happening in the US and it seems the US wants to expost this societal dysfunctionality.

Captain America, I think you brought up an excellent point, which I have never heard before.
 
christofirst said:
I think we Catholics should promote the ideal - the nuclear family: mom and dad, married with children - without disregarding or denigrating the reality - that there are an increasing number of what we would traditionally call “broken” families or alternative families who need our support and encouragement. I see both as social justice issues.

There is nothing all that new about bread-winners needing to go “where the work is”, and sometimes having to leave family behind for a time when they do. It is not the ideal situation, I agree.
Click to expand...
I agree that we need to support the traditional family, without denigrating other situations. It helps if we expand our views to include family structures outside the USA 1950s “nuclear” ideal. Throughout history and across cultures even today families are usually bigger than just dad, mom, and kids. If we held up situations like 3 generation families, or single adult relatives living together or with a married household, etc. we might improve the family situation and encourage larger and more tightly-knit families.

So for example, when a sibling is struggling in young-adulthood, if it seemed “normal” to live with married sister and her family, it might prevent other bad living situations, out-of-wedlock children (or an abortion), etc.

I just heard something about “micro-apartments.” One of the reasons why these tiny spaces are popular is because so many people are living alone now. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/30/the-rise-of-solo-living
I found this article sad. For the most part, the reason for living alone is so the person could do whatever they wanted, when they wanted. It doesn’t seem a good recipe for learning to get along with other people, to develop the give and take of good family life. No wonder our families are thread-bare!
 
Mrs_Sally said:
I agree that we need to support the traditional family, without denigrating other situations. It helps if we expand our views to include family structures outside the USA 1950s “nuclear” ideal. Throughout history and across cultures even today families are usually bigger than just dad, mom, and kids. If we held up situations like 3 generation families, or single adult relatives living together or with a married household, etc. we might improve the family situation and encourage larger and more tightly-knit families.

So for example, when a sibling is struggling in young-adulthood, if it seemed “normal” to live with married sister and her family, it might prevent other bad living situations, out-of-wedlock children (or an abortion), etc.

I just heard something about “micro-apartments.” One of the reasons why these tiny spaces are popular is because so many people are living alone now. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/30/the-rise-of-solo-living
I found this article sad. For the most part, the reason for living alone is so the person could do whatever they wanted, when they wanted. It doesn’t seem a good recipe for learning to get along with other people, to develop the give and take of good family life. No wonder our families are thread-bare!
Click to expand...
You are right about the potential benefits of multi-generational families or adult siblings living together under one roof for mutual support. I think this quietly happens more than some people realize, and it is a good thing. I’m not sure how the Church or society can do more to support this kind of living arrangement. It just seems to happen naturally when all of the parties are in agreement.

I wonder what all of these single people are going to do when they get so old or incapacitated that they need support? Families used to take care of their sick or elderly relatives, and many still do, but what about all of those with no family?
 
eh, don’t jump so hard on me re: single mothers. I have enormous compassion there; I know and have run into SO MANY of them that actually I’m upset that at the federal level, with all this “neo-progressive” supposedly more humane federal government that just “boo” has been said on this subject.

. . . why? well, it raises some of those disturbing questions that you above have begun enumerating. . . media that promotes early sexual conduct (and hyper-selfish individualism) (these tend to counteract each other); an economy that’s not oriented toward average people’s lives, and so forth. . .

I would think a political candidate would do very well to just start, and start early in the process, so that this ends up taking real form as an issue, talking about the challenges families have in getting together, in spending good time together, in raising children and caring for elders, and so forth.

I keep very strongly in mind a conversation I had with a waitress who was working two jobs, a single mom with a boy at home taking care of himself by playing video games. She was concerned because he was getting fat, concerned because he didn’t know how to play basketball, etc.

These are all tough but unglamorous things. We barely know how to speak of them. Much easier to trot out the old “rights talk” in fixing society.
 
I am new here, so please excuse me for jumping right in. Having read the thread on social justice and “thread-bare” families, I wanted to introduce a thought that is related, but I didn’t see mentioned. There was a little talk about single moms, and I would agree that poverty is a huge problem there, but one thing that no one mentioned is the fact that in many cases, the mom is a single parent due to domestic violence. It just seems to me that when we discuss social justice, we should look at how we can best support the mom and kids, who all too often are either abandoned by former husband/dad, or abuse continues via the system, including financial abuse and other issues. Helping families heal and build a life, and being self-sufficient is a goal among many of those I work with, and for those who have no experience in this area, we tend not to think about it. This is not a “complaint” but a comment to help people think about the complexity of the situation.

Thank you. I am enjoying reading the threads and will wait to see what anyone has to say.
 
True. I’m not an expert on the subject of single moms.

I just can’t believe all the national-level politicians say boo about this topic: I know and run into plenty of them, and despite the many who are pulling noble efforts, they just aren’t getting much recognition as a place to assert positive policy.
 
You are so right about the limited information getting out in regards to single moms and homelessness. I’m currently working on a documentary on homelessness, and even with the work I do, I was still surprised (and appalled) to find that in my area, single women and moms make up 47% of the homeless population. I do know that there are some good people trying to do what they can, but we also have others, like the self-proclaimed “homeless expert” Hawaii state legislator who was in the media for taking a sledgehammer to the belongings of the homeless and harassing them if he found them sleeping on a park bench or other public place. Rather than passing judgement on someone on how they got where they are (mostly erroneously) we need to find the best way to support them in becoming self sufficient and being able to make their own way. Sadly, we have a legislature that has made it much harder for people to get an education (one of the best ways to get out of poverty) including denying financial aid to students who have a single barrier that keeps them from passing one class the first time through, keeping many locked in poverty despite much hard work and motivation. We have a minimum wage that is half of what it actually takes to provide a true living wage (a basic roof over their head and food to eat…nothing fancy), and we have businesses refusing to “render unto Caesar” that which belongs to him… Pope Francis is so right on with his assessment. Sorry about the long post… It just feels good talking to others who understand, or who want to, what is important (The option for the poor)
 
One comment for Mrs. Sally,

Not everyone who chooses to live in tiny spaces does so because they are alone. They can be a practical and simple option for safe housing on a limited budget. Here in the States, buying a home would be prohibitively expensive, and renting is also, probably due to all the foreclosures. I would love to have a place of our own, rather than renting, and be able to be self sufficient and focus on what is really important, not having to worry about financial issues; instead putting all my energy into helping others. Not sure if I will do it, but I have been checking out tiny houses for the last few months, and they look like a good way to go:)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top