American families have changed enormously in recent years. Families didn't just have to deal with changing their status or social behavior; but they also had to face a change in their lifestyle. Now there are different types of families with different types of norms and values. Families are more socially, ethnically and expressively diverse than ever (Angier). The American family has gone through an enormous transformation. This transformation is about changes in lifestyle and how you function. We have come extremely far where women contribute to the paid workforce, divorce rates are high, people don't marry early or have children when they get married, and most people marry same-sex or different ethnicity. Many believe this change is positive, but there are also many people who believe that American family life has been degraded. There is much more to all these transformations that demonstrate that American families have come a long way with a moderately modern lifestyle. The main change occurred in the lifestyle of women. Previously, twenty years ago, women worked at home doing household chores and taking care of their families. Even if they worked outside the home, however, their wages were very low compared to what men received. Now things are completely reversed. Women have entered the paid workforce in such numbers that employment is no longer gender-based (Fraser). Today, women contribute to household expenses in the same way as men. Women are more career focused and sometimes have many more responsibilities than men. Families in which both spouses work are classified as dual-income families. This shows the amount of freedom women have today and the importance in a family. Back in time, an ideal “traditional” family would consist of a breadwinner father, a stay-at-home mother and their children. This tradition has not completely disappeared; families with a working husband, an unemployed wife, and one or more children make up less than fifteen percent of the nation's families (Mintz). Both couple's earnings can be very difficult at times because most of the time married couples tend to live separately. They live apart not because they are dissatisfied with their marriage, but because work wants them to be. More than half of married couples live hundreds of miles apart (Schaefer, page 341). This is primarily due to the economic challenges and opportunities of this century, hence dual-income families.