Family Structure in Britain and the United States（英漢對(duì)照）
The British and the Americans live longer，marry later，have fewer children，and are morelikely to get divorced than ever before. Young people leave home earlier，though not necessarilyto get married. More women now go out to work，and more people，especially the old，live alone.The nuclear family（parents and perhaps two children）gas largely replaced the extended familywhere several generations together.
Although patterns are changing，most people in Britain and the United States still get marriedand have children and stay together until the end of their lives. People are marrying later：theaverage woman in Britain gets married at twenty-four to a man who is just over two yearsolder. In the U.S.，the average age at first marriage in 1994 was 22.5 years for women and 26.7years for men. Nine out of ten married women in Britain will have children at some point intheir lives. And despite the changes in working habits it is usually the woman who has overallresponsibility for domestic life：the traditional division of family responsibilities still persists.
Britain has one of the highest divorce rates in Western Europe：approximately one in threemarriages breaks up in divorce，half of them in the first ten years of marriage. As a result，morepeople are getting remarried and there are now over a million single parents looking after 1.6million children. In the United States，the divorce rate is also high. For the year 1995，for example，thenumber of marriages was about 2.3 million and that of divorce cases was over 1.1 million. Manyhouseholds are single-parent families，mostly maintained by women. In 1994，there were 11.4million single parents，among whom 9.9 million were single mothers. Children from single-parentfamilies have less access to adult attention，less help with homeworkand less time with both parents than those with two-parent families.They were likely to drop out of school and fail in their futurecareer.
英美兩國人壽命長，結(jié)婚晚，孩子少，并且比以往更容易離婚。年輕人即便不是為了結(jié)婚也較早離家。現(xiàn)在有更多的女性出來上班，也有更多的人，尤其是老年人過著孤獨(dú)的生活。核心家庭（父母，可能還有兩個(gè)孩子）已經(jīng)大大取代了幾代人生活在一起的擴(kuò)展性家庭。
盡管生活方式發(fā)生著變化，但大多數(shù)英國人和美國人仍然結(jié)婚，生孩子，然后生活在一起直到死亡。人們結(jié)婚越來越晚：在英國，一般女性在24歲嫁給一個(gè)比自己年長兩歲的男性。在美國，1994年初婚的平均年齡是：女性24.5歲，男性26.7歲。在英國，有十分之九的女性會(huì)在他們生命中的某個(gè)時(shí)間生孩子。盡管工作習(xí)慣發(fā)生了變化，但通常是女性對(duì)整個(gè)家庭生活負(fù)有全部責(zé)任，家庭責(zé)任的傳統(tǒng)分工仍然存在。
英國是歐洲離婚率的國家之一，大約每三個(gè)婚姻中就有一個(gè)破裂，其中一半是在婚后的頭十年就已經(jīng)離異。結(jié)果是，有更多的人再婚，現(xiàn)在已有100萬單親父母在照顧著160萬兒童。美國的離婚率也很高，以1995年為例，結(jié)婚數(shù)是230萬，而離婚數(shù)就超過了110萬例。許多家庭是單親家庭，而且大多是靠女性維持著。1994年，1140萬單親父母中有990萬是單親母親。單親家庭的孩子得不到成年人的足夠照顧，得不到對(duì)家庭作業(yè)的足夠幫助，更得不到太多與雙親共處的時(shí)間。他們很容易輟學(xué)，并可能在將來的事業(yè)中失敗。
The British and the Americans live longer，marry later，have fewer children，and are morelikely to get divorced than ever before. Young people leave home earlier，though not necessarilyto get married. More women now go out to work，and more people，especially the old，live alone.The nuclear family（parents and perhaps two children）gas largely replaced the extended familywhere several generations together.
Although patterns are changing，most people in Britain and the United States still get marriedand have children and stay together until the end of their lives. People are marrying later：theaverage woman in Britain gets married at twenty-four to a man who is just over two yearsolder. In the U.S.，the average age at first marriage in 1994 was 22.5 years for women and 26.7years for men. Nine out of ten married women in Britain will have children at some point intheir lives. And despite the changes in working habits it is usually the woman who has overallresponsibility for domestic life：the traditional division of family responsibilities still persists.
Britain has one of the highest divorce rates in Western Europe：approximately one in threemarriages breaks up in divorce，half of them in the first ten years of marriage. As a result，morepeople are getting remarried and there are now over a million single parents looking after 1.6million children. In the United States，the divorce rate is also high. For the year 1995，for example，thenumber of marriages was about 2.3 million and that of divorce cases was over 1.1 million. Manyhouseholds are single-parent families，mostly maintained by women. In 1994，there were 11.4million single parents，among whom 9.9 million were single mothers. Children from single-parentfamilies have less access to adult attention，less help with homeworkand less time with both parents than those with two-parent families.They were likely to drop out of school and fail in their futurecareer.
英美兩國人壽命長，結(jié)婚晚，孩子少，并且比以往更容易離婚。年輕人即便不是為了結(jié)婚也較早離家。現(xiàn)在有更多的女性出來上班，也有更多的人，尤其是老年人過著孤獨(dú)的生活。核心家庭（父母，可能還有兩個(gè)孩子）已經(jīng)大大取代了幾代人生活在一起的擴(kuò)展性家庭。
盡管生活方式發(fā)生著變化，但大多數(shù)英國人和美國人仍然結(jié)婚，生孩子，然后生活在一起直到死亡。人們結(jié)婚越來越晚：在英國，一般女性在24歲嫁給一個(gè)比自己年長兩歲的男性。在美國，1994年初婚的平均年齡是：女性24.5歲，男性26.7歲。在英國，有十分之九的女性會(huì)在他們生命中的某個(gè)時(shí)間生孩子。盡管工作習(xí)慣發(fā)生了變化，但通常是女性對(duì)整個(gè)家庭生活負(fù)有全部責(zé)任，家庭責(zé)任的傳統(tǒng)分工仍然存在。
英國是歐洲離婚率的國家之一，大約每三個(gè)婚姻中就有一個(gè)破裂，其中一半是在婚后的頭十年就已經(jīng)離異。結(jié)果是，有更多的人再婚，現(xiàn)在已有100萬單親父母在照顧著160萬兒童。美國的離婚率也很高，以1995年為例，結(jié)婚數(shù)是230萬，而離婚數(shù)就超過了110萬例。許多家庭是單親家庭，而且大多是靠女性維持著。1994年，1140萬單親父母中有990萬是單親母親。單親家庭的孩子得不到成年人的足夠照顧，得不到對(duì)家庭作業(yè)的足夠幫助，更得不到太多與雙親共處的時(shí)間。他們很容易輟學(xué)，并可能在將來的事業(yè)中失敗。