Childhood Flashcards
Childhood as a social construct
Sociologists see childhood as a social construct, there is no age agreed by everyone for every time and every society where childhood begins or ends.
Demographic change affecting childhood
One demographic change affecting childhood is the falling birth rate. Birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 of the population per year. The birth rate has fallen significantly since the beginning of the 20th century. There were peaks after two world wars known as the baby boom but have continued to fall since this. The reason for this is because of the increase in cost of living when having children. Before the 20th century children could be seen as a economic asset as they could help work labour for the family such as farming. However, as society a has developed and education is mandatory children become more of an economic burden due to food, travel and clothes required for school. Therefore, families may decide to have less children, for example many families are having one child. This creates a child centred family. The child becomes the sole focus of the family and with this there is an increase of money spent on this child. This could benefit the child as they will benefit from good support such as healthy foods and ability to go to clubs and build relationships with other children. However, it can be a bad thing as they will cost the family a ridiculous amount of money, it was found that by a child’s 21st birthday it was estimated that they cost their parents over £227,000. This could detremet a family in the future and make them more economically reliant on their children when they get older making the money they spent on them worthless.
Another demographic change affecting childhood
Another demographic change affecting childhood is a change in life expectancy. Life expectancy is the average length of time someone is expected to live today. Current life expectancy for males is 79.2 years and for females is 83.1 years. This has been steadily climbing for many years. In 1901 life expectancy was 48.5 for males and 52.4 for females. This could benefit children in the family as it means there grandparents will be living longer creating another relationship for the children and also gaining life lessons from their grandparents . This can benefit the socialisation of children but will also benefit the parents. Grandparents can be a very reliable and trustworthy from of childcare. Childcare in society can be extremely expensive and many parents cannot afford this which means they may have to take time out of work to loom after their children. This reduces income into the family and creates a viscous circle as this makes them even less likely to be able to afford childcare. However, grandparents can be relied upon to loom after the children whilst the parents are out of work. They are very unlikely to charge for their services as then usually just enjoy spending time with their grandchildren. This allows the parents to go out and work which will benefit the family and child in the long run. Therefore, an increase in life expectancy can be very beneficial for the family.
