Family Forms + Diversity Flashcards
What is meant by the term family?
➞ usually defined in terms of the nuclear family- a heterosexual married couple with children
➞ nowadays definition no longer fits well as families tend to be composed of groups of people who share close interactions, modern definition considers the emotional links between family members
Define a kinship
➞ Kinship is a way to describe the relationships between people in a family or group.
➞ It includes connections like parents, siblings, grandparents, and even close friends who feel like family.
➞ Kinship shows how people are related to each other, either by blood (like family) or by marriage.
Define household
➞ a residence for 1 person / group of people who may be family or unrelated, living under the same roof.
➞ not all households are family e.g uni students
➞ ONS - 8.4 million people living alone (2023)
Define extended family
➞ refers to the people who surround the parents + children e.g grandparents, aunt, uncles, cousins
➞ Young + Willmott found in traditional WC areas, extended families may share a home or live close by
Define single/lone parent families
➞ described as the “broken nuclear” family
➞ ONS - 85% of single parent families are headed by a lone mother (2023) + 11% families in UK are single parent
➞ Dennis + Erdos blame this type of family structure for the breakdown of the nuclear family + social problems e.g crime, juvenile delinquency etc
➞ ministry of justice (MOJ) - in 2023, 23% of children in custody came from lone parent families
Define reconstituted/blended families
➞ significant increase due to high divorce rates (OS - 42) + remarriage
➞ type of family is usually in a nuclear structure + involves parents, children from either spouse from a previous marriage and / or new children from their present marriage
➞ ONS - 781,000 blended families (2021)
Define the sandwich generation
➞ people live longer + have children later
➞ people tend to live at home for longer
➞ 2.4 million people in UK (YouGov 2013) are responsible for both their children + elderly parents
➞ puts emotional + financial strain
Define LATs
➞ Living Apart Together
➞ new family form identified by Levin in 2004
➞ in a relationship, but not married or cohabitating
➞ ONS - 3.4 million couples in LAT
➞ BSA - 1:10 couples are LAT
Define cohabitating
➞ when couples live together, but are not legally married
➞ can be used as a trial run before marriage or to save money (ONS - average cost of marriage = £30,000)
➞ ONS - 23% in 2022
Define same-sex couples
➞ relationship between a couple of the same-sex (homosexual)
➞ 1999, law rules that gay couples can be legally defined as family
➞ New Right suggest it’s ‘unnatural’ as children can be under pressure to experiment with lifestyles of their parents or be bullied at school
➞ same sex marriage legal in England and Wales in 2014
➞ ONS - 2.7% of couples are same sex
Define the beanpole family
➞ in the past, families often had my children - triangular shape
➞ modern family trees are now longer + thinner as less children
➞ fewer people in each generation + living longer - grandparents, parents + grandchildren
Define single parent by choice
➞ It is now acceptable for adults to have children born outside marriage (48% of children are born outside marriage) without long-term partners - adoption ( secularisation - ons; 30% marriages were religious in 2012 + Bruce states churches have softened their view on divorce, reducing stigma associated with it)
➞ Cashmore found that WC women lived alone with children because they had experienced abuse. Feminists encourage the increase in lone parents by choice
➞ due to women’s careers, don’t financially depend on male breadwinners
Explain Durkheim’s view on the traditional NF
➞ family plays a crucial role in maintaining social order + stability
➞ family socialises children into norms + values of society
Explain Chester’s view on the NF
➞ introduced concept of the “neo-conventional family” - dual earner family
➞ argues despite social changes, the NF remains the dominant family structure
➞ claims most people will experience being in a NF at some point in their lives
Why have families changed?
Changing Norms + Values:
➞ big changes over the last 50 years:
- sex outside marriage = ONS 48% children born outside marriage (2013), in 1938 it was 5%
- single and cohabitating couples have increased due to trial runs + marriages costly (average £20k)
Legal changes + the family:
➞ Homosexual couples – Civil Partnerships in 2004 and SSM in 2014, resulting in increasing awareness of LGTB. 5-7% openly in same-sex relationships
➞ abortion - became legal in GB in 1968 due to unacceptably high death rates among women having illegal abortions (15% of deaths of women).
Economic + family change:
➞ Loss of male breadwinner - caused by shift in nature of employment. Dual-earner families needed + women can become the breadwinners. (Dual-burden + triple shift)
➞ Women in the work place - women gain financial independence + delaying children due to career. ONS = 72% of women in employment. [ grandparent - 7 million look after grandchildren ONS ]
➞ Marriage is not longer an economic necessity - increase in age of marriage, ONS 36 for women + 38 for men. Fewer people are choosing to marry, Wilkinson’s genderquake + Greer believes women are generally happier single
