The Family and its Members



LIPPINCOTT'S
FAMILY LIFE SERIES
EDITED BY BENJAMIN R. ANDREWS, PH.D.
TEACHERS COLLEGE. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
THE FAMILY AND ITS MEMBERS By ANNA GARLIN SPENCER

LIPPINCOTT'S HOME MANUALS
Edited by BENJAMIN R. ANDREWS, PH.D. Teachers College, Columbia University
CLOTHING FOR WOMEN
By LAURA I. BALDT, A.M., Teachers College, Columbia University. 454 Pages, 7 Colored Plates, 202 Illustrations in Text.
SUCCESSFUL CANNING AND PRESERVING
By OLA POWELL, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 425 Pages, 5 Colored Plates, 174 Illustrations in Text. Third Edition.
HOME AND COMMUNITY HYGIENE
By JEAN BROADHURST, Ph.D. 428 Pages, 1 Colored Plate, 118 Illustrations in Text.
THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSEHOLD
By C.W. TABER, Author of Taker's Dietetic Charts, Nurses' Medical Dictionary, etc. 438 Pages. Illustrated. Second Edition, Revised.
HOUSEWIFERY
By L. RAY BALDERSTON, A.M., Teachers College, Columbia University. 351 Pages. Colored Frontispiece and 175 Illustrations in Text.
LAUNDERING
By LYDIA RAY BALDERSTON, A.M., Instructor in Housewifery and Laundering, Teachers College, Columbia University. 152 Illustrations.
HOUSE AND HOME
By GRETA GREY, B.S., Director of Home Economics Department, University of Wyoming. Illustrated.
MILLINERY (In Preparation)
By EVELYN SMITH TOBEY, B.S., Teachers College, Columbia University
LIPPINCOTT'S FAMILY LIFE SERIES
Edited by BENJAMIN R. ANDREWS, PH.D. Teachers College, Columbia University
CLOTHING--CHOICE, CARE, COST
By MARY SCHENCK WOOLMAN, B.S. 290 Pages. Illustrated. Second Edition.
SUCCESSFUL FAMILY LIFE, ON THE MODERATE INCOME
By MARY HINMAN ABEL. 263 Pages.
THE FAMILY AND ITS MEMBERS
By ANNA GARLIN SPENCER, Special Lecturer in Social Science, Teachers College, Columbia University.

LIPPINCOTT'S FAMILY LIFE SERIES EDITED BY BENJAMIN R. ANDREWS, PH.D., TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
THE FAMILY AND ITS MEMBERS
BY
ANNA GARLIN SPENCER
SPECIAL LECTURER IN SOCIAL SCIENCE, TEACHERS COLLEGE OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, FORMERLY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL WORK, SPECIAL LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AND HACKLEY PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AND ETHICS AT MEADVILLE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL; AUTHOR OF WOMAN'S SHARE IN SOCIAL CULTURE

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PRINTED AT THE WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS BY J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.

TO THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS, IN NUMBER BEYOND COUNT, WHOSE COURAGE, LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS CARRY ONWARD THE GENERATIONS AND KEEP THE MAIN CURRENTS OF LIFE STRONG AND WHOLESOME.

INTRODUCTION
=A Threefold Aim.=--This book is based upon three theses--namely, first, that the monogamic, private, family is a priceless inheritance from the past and should be preserved; second, that in order to preserve it many of its inherited customs and mechanisms must be modified to suit new social demands; and third, that present day experimentation and idealistic effort already indicate certain tendencies of change in the family order which promise needed adjustment to ends of highest social value.
Many learned books have been written concerning the evolution of sex, the history of matrimonial institutions and the development of the family. This volume is not an attempted rival of any of these. The work of Havelock Ellis, of Le Tourneau, of Otis T. Mason, of Geddes and Thompson, and others building upon the foundations laid by the great pioneers in the study of the family, constitute a sufficient mine of historical information and scientific analysis and evaluation. The studies and suggestions of Olive Schreiner, Mrs. Clews Parsons, Mrs. Helen Bosanquet, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ellen Key and others indicate the tendency of modern inquiry into the just basis of the family order. The work of Professors Howard, Giddings, Thomas, Boss, Goodsell, Calhoun, Patten, Dealey, Cooley, Ellwood, Todd and others in college fields, shows the importance of the family and the necessity of giving all that concerns it the most serious attention.
This book aims to begin where many of these students leave off and to turn specific attention to the problems of personal and ethical decision which now face men and women who would make their own married life and parenthood successful. The past experience of the race is drawn upon only in so far as it seems to explain present conditions and point the way to future social and personal achievements.
=Basic Principles Underlying All Socially Useful Changes.=--A fundamental principle in democracy is the right and duty of every human being to develop a strong, noble and distinctive individuality. For such development it is necessary that a person be self-supporting, free of despotic control by others, and able and willing to bear equal part with every other human being in the social order to which he or she belongs.
This implies that no human being should be wholly sacrificed in personal development to the service or welfare of any other human being, or group of human beings, either inside or outside the family circle. On the other hand, after temporary excursions into an extreme individualism that ordained a free-for-all competition in every walk of life, society is now keenly alive to the need for control of personal desire and individual activity within channels of social usefulness. It is beginning to be clearly seen that society has a right to demand from any person or class of persons that form of community service which definitely inheres in the social function which is assumed by,