In recent decades, society has increasingly demanded that more families have both parents working. This has caused the destruction of the ‘traditional’ family, where the father works and the mother raises the children, which has disrupted traditional child rearing methods.

To begin with, this is not a new issue — “In the last 100 years, American society has shifted from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy and now to a post-industrial economy,” said Kay Forest, chair of the sociology department.

The ‘traditional family’ is an ideal which emerged only during the 18th and 19th centuries during the high industrial period, Forest said.

“But until industrialization, family roles were based on a household economy, especially small-scale farming,” she said. In other words, “Everyone worked.”

Still, it is ideal for modern society to have both working parents share the role of raising their children by working separate shifts, said Laura Smart, chair of the family, consumer and nutritional sciences department.

When parents work separate shifts to raise their children, it does cause tension between married couples, Smart said.

Raising children could be made less stressful on parents with help from the community.

“Where I grew up, the community would make up for lacking parents. In my house, friends would come over and my mother would watch them and make sure they didn’t get into trouble,” said Jake Ricks, a graduate political science student.

The proverb ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ is how it has been done throughout history, and how it should be done today, Smart said.

Families need to have a more supportive environment from the community in the venue of childcare and more flexible work schedules, she said.