>Today, a new survey from Ancestry, the leader in family history, found more than half (53%) of Americans can't name all four grandparents – demonstrating a knowledge gap in key information about more recent family history.
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[0] - Anna vs. Hanna. Close enough to be ambiguous in speech.
A lament perhaps.
I think I didn't really know my maternal grandparents' names until they died and I looked at a family tree. My paternal grandfather's name isn't even well-defined: it's been butchered after 4 civil wars & invasions, 2 emigrations, different dialects, repeated anglicizations, and a change in the orthography of his native language.
My other grand parents come once a week to hang out with the kids, nanny is off that day. I beg them to take the kids to the zoo, the playground, the library, jumping jacks, a hike, a walk with the dogs. I am constantly disappointed by a grandpa on his phone and a grandma that can’t do all that herself, and I’m stuck working so I can’t do it.
I think “the decline of marriage” or “broken homes” is a symptom. If you’re an American who frequents this board, you’re in some of the roughest late stage capitalism effects on your personal relationships and community relationships that could exist until we see the Wall-e universe.
Not having a multi-generational family to help raise the kids in your neighborhood to help ameliorate the cost and stress of raising kids puts a huge strain on a marriage. Having to work 60-70 hours a week to make life possible to have those kids, with daycare and preschool and all the other costs… it’s a self fulfilling cycle.
The 60s youth barely had 1 parent at home, my generation had none, if the parents weren’t even home why should the grand parents feel any responsibility to help right?
Anyway, something to think about when you’re just blaming “decline” (it’s actually gotten better) of marriage. Some stats:
Currently, the divorce rate per 1000 married women is 16.9.
The divorce rate per 1000 married women is nearly double that of 1960, but down from the all-time high of 22.6 in the early 1980s.
The divorce rate for couples with children is as much as 40 percent lower than for those without children.
An annual income of over $50,000 can decrease the risk of divorce by as much as 30% versus those with an income of under $25k.