Families

Nuclear family - Made up of married mother and father and their children

Extended family - Consisting of parents, children and maybe grandparents, aunts and uncles

Reconstituted - Families that have remarried with step parents and step children 

Lone parent - Onlyone parent looks after the child 

Symmetrical family - Family where responsibilities and tasks are equally shared 

Polygamy - Accepted practice of having more than one spouse

Polyandry - Accepted practice of a women having more than one husband

Polygyny - Accepted practice of a man having more that one wife

Conjugal roles - Men and women have separate roles in the house

Dual worker - Both parents are both in paid employment 

Children need financial support from their family for much longer 

Parents work so often the extended family and childminders look after the children 

Tasks in the family are being shared equally 

Divorce Act - Reduced the amount of time you had to wait before you could get a divorce 

Adoption Act - Gave non married couples the same right to adopt as married couples 

Welfare Benefits - Means that single paremt families can support themsleves

Maternity and Paternity Acts - A maximum of 52 weeks leave can be taken to look after a baby and this can be split into 2 26 week periods between the mother and the father. However, only the mother can take leave in the first 2 weeks  

50 yers ago - Women stayed at home and looked after the children 

Now - Women can go to work and get paid the same as their male co workers due to gender equality acts

The number of women in work is rising  

Work in the house is now being shared more equally between men and women. Creates a symmetrical family. 

Feminists argue that women now have a triple shift of paid employment, childcare and housework. 

Marriage rates have declined in recent years 

More people are choosing to focus on their career before getting married 

Less social stigma

Weddings are expensive 

Only 36% of marriages are taking place in a church

Decline in religion 

Housing is expensive so some people are choosing to buy a house in their 20's and get married in their 30's. 

Family is the basic building block of society 

The nuclear family is the best as ot teaches the norms and values of scoiety to the next generation 

They see the family as being positive 

The family socialises girls to accept their subservient roles within the family 

Socialises women into accepting the housewife as the only possible role for them 

Reproduces the inequality between men and women 

Teaches boys to be boys and girls to be girls throught the toys that are given and the games they play, eg boys with plastic guns and girls with dolls. 

Family reproduces class inequalities 

Wealthy pass down their property to their children 

Family convinces people that the system is inevitable, natural and good