Family and Households - Family Diversity

Question 1

Cohabiting family

Answer 1

unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together with or without children

Question 2

Nuclear Family

Answer 2

consists of 2 adults living together with their biological or adopted children

Question 3

lone parent family

Answer 3

Lone parent family consists of a mother or father living with her / his children.

Question 4

household

Answer 4

consist of a group of people
sharing accommodation, meals, bills and housework together, but are not related to each other, they are usually friends or students

Question 5

reconstituted family

Answer 5

Reconstituted family is a step-family consisting of married or cohabiting couple with children who are not
the biological offspring of both adults,

Question 6

singleton

Answer 6

This is a person living alone, usually a
young adult or an elderly person.

Question 7

DINK

Answer 7

dual income no kids - both in paid employment

Question 8

LAT

Answer 8

living apart together - families or
couples who do not live together, usually for work reasons

Question 9

Family life Cycle

Answer 9

refers to a person’s stages of life and the different types of families he/she lives in at each different stage

Question 10

Beanpole Family

Answer 10

This is a multi-generational family (three or even more generations = children, parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents), but with few
people in each generation.

Question 11

same sex

Answer 11

Same sex families became possible following the introduction of the Civil Partnerships Act 2005 – same
legal rights as heterosexual married couples.

Question 12

extended family

Answer 12

Classic extended family contains wide kin –relatives based on blood or marriage - all living together.

Modified extended families are nuclear families that live separately from their extended kin, but maintain close ties through frequent visits and
phone calls. Ties maintained primarily through women

Question 13

empty nest

Answer 13

This family unit consists of an elderly
couple living alone once their children
have grown up. They start off as nuclear
families, but when the children grow up, they move away .
This leaves their parents living alone.

Question 14

why are cohabitation on the increase ?

Answer 14

changes in social attitudes
increased opportunites for women
secularisation
gender equality

Question 15

why are households increasing ?

Answer 15

-More young people are going to uni so flat sharing and moving out
- cost of living people cant afford to live alone
-some people choose to live with their friends

Question 16

why are same sex families on the increase?

Answer 16

• changes in the law civil partnership act
• medical advances such as ivf meaning they can have a family
• changes in social attuides - no longer a stigma

Question 17

why is singlehood on the increase ?

Answer 17

increase in divorce so more people living alone ( dads move out )
- people marrying at a later age bc they haven’t found the one
- increased career and education opportunities

Question 18

why are lone parent families increasing ?

Answer 18

changing male attitudes -men no longer feel obliged to marry women in case of an unintentional conception.
- IVF women can choose to be lone parents
-increase in divorce rates
- secularisation - no longer seen as sinful to have baby outside of marriage
-

Question 19

why are reconstituted family on the increase

Answer 19

increase in divorce and then remarriage as they want to try again
-secularisation
influence of the media - want to try again if their first marriage did not work out ( promote romantic love)

Question 20

why are extended families decreasing ?

Answer 20

needs of the economy - people find it easier moving w an nuclear family then an extended family
-housing is too small to provide for extended family
-

Question 21

why is the nuclear family still the most popular?

Answer 21

meets needs of economy nuclear family is geographically mobile
- welfare state provides services which used to be provided by extended family
( benefits education , healthcare )
-increased social mobility - as people go from being w/c to m/c they develop diff lifestyle which weakens bonds w their family

Question 22

why is the empty nest decreasing ?

Answer 22

increase in adult kids ( boomerang generation ) move back home after uni cant afford to live independently
often referred as kippers as kids in parents’ pockets. So the transitional period from youth to adulthood is becoming longer and this stage is referred to as kidulthood.

Question 23

why are beanpole families increasing ?

Answer 23

Child-centredness – people are having fewer children as they want to lavish them with care, love, money.

Increased life expectancy – people are living longer as a result of improving health care so there are several generations in each family.

ageing population - more elderly people so children not only have grandparents they have great grandparents

Question 24

why are LATS increasing ?

Answer 24

modern technology - allows people to meet online (LDR)
- changes in social attiudes = more tolerant of new styles of relationships
- changes in employment = person has to move for work while partner stays

Question 25

Murdock

Answer 25

‘The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes [who] maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted.’

Question 26

evaluation for Family diversity

Answer 26

family structures do not apply to everyone as a person’s class background and ethnicity affect the type of family they live in.

Question 27

the influence of ethnicity on Family diversity ( black ethnicities )

Answer 27

Black ethnicities are more likely to be in lone parent families can be linked to slavery This has created a culture among Afro-Caribbean women of self-reliance.

Question 28

the influence of ethnicity
(asian)

Answer 28

nuclear families or modified extended families. However, 30 years ago they would have been extended. This is linked to migration patterns, whereby a man would have come to Britain on his own, followed by his wife and children. Once they settled down, they helped other relatives and their families come over to the uk

Question 29

the influence of class - middle class

Answer 29

tend to form isolated nuclear families as for career they move away and settle down in areas geographically removed from their place of origin.

Question 30

the influence of class - working class

Answer 30

Tend to form extended families. They are less likely to pursue higher education so stay living near their extended kin. Moreover, they need financial and childcare support from relatives. However, in recent years, more working class families are becoming lone parent families. This is because they experience high divorce rates due to economic problems.

Question 31

functionalist theory - parsons

Answer 31

Parsons argues only the nuclear family is the ideal family type because it has a
functional fit.