The first week in my Family Relations class we discussed the effects of social trends on the family.  We discussed various statistics analyzing the relationship between social trends and families, such as birth rates around the world, marriage rates, divorce rates, and cohabitation before marriage rates. I personally thought it was interesting that birth rates and marriage rates have decreased, while divorce rates and cohabitation before marriage have increased. As these social trends have become increasingly common, more families have parents who are not married, or divorced; and many families have few or no children by choice.