American families

There have been many changes in American families in the past few years. So there are many different kinds of families today. There are fewer traditional families in the United States today than in the past. The traditional family includes a man and woman who are married and their children. Fewer than twenty-five percent of American homes have these traditional families.

One major influence on families is the high number of marriages than end in divorce. More single parents are raising their children today. There is also a high rate of unmarried women having babies.

Research has found that the marriage rate in the United States is dropping. More men and women are choosing to live together and have children, but not get married. Population experts say that the number of unmarried parents in the United States increased more than seventy percent in the past ten years.

Another kind of American family is the stepfamily. A stepfamily includes a married man and woman and at least one child from a former marriage or relationship. Many stepfamilies include children of both the man and woman from earlier marriages and children from their current marriage.

Foster families are also a part of American life. A child who does not have parents is placed in the home of a foster family until the child can be adopted. Adoption is the legal process by which a child becomes part of a family. Many men and women who are not able to produce children will adopt a child instead. Some people who have given birth to their own children choose to give a home to other children through adoption.

Studies also show an increase in the number of children who have parents of the same sex. Sometimes, one of the adults is the biological parent of the child. Sometimes the children are adopted.

So, as you can see, the traditional family in the United States is changing. However, many Americans say it is not important if family members are related through biology or not. The important thing in a family is love.

Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are the world’s tallest buildings. They are called “skyscrapers” because they rise so high that they seem to touch the sky.

Skyscrapers provide space for offices, eating places, homes and hotels. The first one was built in Chicago, Illinois in Eighteen-Eighty-Five. It was almost fifty-five meters tall. Today, skyscrapers are much taller. The world’s tallest skyscrapers are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They are the Petronas Towers. Each building is four-hundred-fifty-two meters high.

New York City has more skyscrapers than any other city in the world. New York is also home to the world’s most famous skyscraper -- the Empire State Building. It was built in Nineteen-Thirty-One. It was the world’s tallest building for more than forty years. It is still one of the most popular.

Each year, more than three-million people ride an elevator to the top of the Empire State Building. They stand outdoors in a special observation area almost three-hundred-eighty meters above the ground.

Last month, the American Society of Civil Engineers honored the Empire State Building as one of the greatest structures of the twentieth century. The group called it a “Monument of the Millennium.”

Other famous skyscrapers in New York include the two buildings of the World Trade Center. The Center was built in Nineteen-Seventy-Three. It occupies six-and-one-half hectares of land. Its two buildings are more than four-hundred-ten meters tall. They once were the tallest buildings in the world. About fifty-thousand people work in the World Trade Center. About seventy-thousand others visit the two buildings every day.

One place to learn more about skyscrapers is the Skyscraper Museum in New York City. It was organized in Nineteen-Ninety-Six to show visitors the tall buildings of the past, present and future. The museum explains the history, design, building and operation of skyscrapers. The Skyscraper Museum is not among the most well-known museums in New York. But its managers say people should see it first, before visiting other areas of New York City.