Assignment:
The major changes that have forced differences are changes in the place of women in society as more equal in terms of jobs and working, more out of wedlock births creating more single families, less stigma by society on men who do not participate with or support their children. Another could be blamed on the advancement of technology that makes it easier to leave families with different priorities within the family and ways to accommodate those priorities.
Probably families are becoming both weaker and better, and in many cases different. People do not show the same concerns for their children after a certain age. Many people take their family as a role rather than a responsibility. Too much television and other technology is involved. People used to spend time with their family, watching television, eating together, doing a lot of activities. Now it is more likely that children are separated from their parents, even within the same house due to their access to TV, DVD, computer, internet, and smart phones,tablets which are in their rooms.
Children are dropped off at parties, events, activities and picked up later. While parents do make an effort, work, other children, health concerns, other pressing needs can interfere with spending time together. Quality time has replaced spending a lot of time with children and other family members. Distance has created problems. People move more often and further. Everybody works and this limits time for spending together, getting chores and work completed. It also creates stress and lack of private time and space for parents. There is the additional burden to overseeing older relatives care, since they seldom live with the family.
More effort to spend normal time together, not just planned time.
Eat dinner and breakfast together.
watch TV together rather than separately.
Turn off technology a few nights a week, everyone.
Balance time spent at work with time spent at home.
Stop putting job priorities above family priorities, including parents, children, elder family.
Plan projects that will take everyone's help and over a long period of time. (work a puzzle, build a room, paint rooms, raise a pet, take a cooking class or other interesting class together)
If the kids participate in an activity, everyone participates.