GCSE RS Unit 3.3 - Family Life

Question 1

What were the attitudes to family life in the 1950s?

Answer 1

• Vast majority of people lived in a nuclear family

Question 2

What were the attitudes to family life in the 2010s?

Answer 2

• Still most families are nuclear, but more people live in alternatives:
  Single parent families
  Cohabiting families
  Reconstituted families
• Higher teenage pregnancy rates. UK has highest in Europe
• Smaller average family size

Question 3

Why is family important to Catholics?

Answer 3

1) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1603 - “The wellbeing of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of family life”

2) The family life is the basic unit of society & it is the responsibility of parents to:
- Teach children right from wrong
- Introduce children to Christian faith

Question 4

How does the Church help support families?

Answer 4

1) Upbringing of Children:
- Running Catholic Schools that teach children in a Christian environment
- Helping children to prepare to participate in the sacraments
- Encouraging children to participate in worship and prayer
- Arranging children’s play groups, and youth groups

2) Keep families together:
- Seeking reconciliation, not separation-divorce
- Providing marriage preparation courses
- Giving opportunities to celebrate marriage
- Training priests to support couples through difficulties
- Running charities that support families