Question

Which of the following statements about the makeup of the American household is FALSE?

1) Household growth and consumer demand go together.
2) The number of households without children has decreased in recent years.
3) The retailer, like the social scientist, has little knowledge of how joint decision making occurs or does not occur in households of unmarried adults.
4) The number of unmarried couples has increased in recent years.
5) Seventy-five percent of American households are not directly concerned about back-to-school sales and other family-oriented retail activities.

Answer 1

The false statement about the American household is that the number of households without children has decreased. In reality, there is an increasing number of unmarried couples, single-parent and single-adult households, and a decline in households headed by married couples.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement about the makeup of the American household that is FALSE is: The number of households without children has decreased in recent years. In fact, the opposite is true. According to U.S. Census data, there has been a shift from the traditional "nuclear family" structure, with an increase in unmarried couples, single-parent and single-adult households, and expanded households that include extended family members. Moreover, the number of households without children tends to increase as societal attitudes towards marriage and childrearing evolve. This trend is coupled with the steadily declining number of households headed by married couples. Although household growth does correlate with consumer demand to a certain extent, the assumption that a majority of American households are focused on family-oriented retail activities such as back-to-school sales is somewhat misleading given that many households do not have children.