The Ideal 50's Family

In the 1950's, the perfect family consisted of two children, a stay-home mom, and a working father. Families in the 50's were ordinary families, but to them, this type of family was considered the "American Dream".

At the time, marriage was a very important thing. People were getting married in very young ages. Also, divorce was very rare then. You were supposed to get married and stay married. Only 9.3% of homes had only a single occupant in 1950, up slightly to 16.3% in 1960. Today that number is over 25%.

The famous "television" was very new and hot in the 1950s. Most families then would watch together for dinner. But, some people went a bit crazy with it. People would do things such as cancel doctor appointments just to watch a tv show. This is one of their famous fads in the 50s.

Mothers in the 1950's were very hardworking. Even though they were stay-home parents, they would still have to take care of the house. Their responsibility is to tidy up their house and take care of the children while the father goes off to make money for the family.

Fathers in the 1950's were also hardworking. They are the ones who make the money for the family and goes off to work everyday. Usually, most fathers work at businesses which work for the government. After they come from a long day at work, they would come home to home-cooked meals from their wife.

The average teenager in the 1950's was a very classy person. He/she would wear clothes that would look classy, such as a leather jacket and some khakis for boys and a classy skirt for girls. Most teenagers used slang at the time which most parents did not like. But to sum it up teens were very cool and chill.

At the time, parents were expected to have babies, but not as much as now. Most families have about 2-3 children. Mostly looking for a boy and a girl. But babies were really important and needed the mother's comfort to keep it warm and healthy.