Family

Family: a couple whose relationship is based on marriage, civil partnership or co-habitation with or without dependant children, or a lone parent and their child/ren.

Household: either one person who lives alone or a group of people who live at the same address. Either share one meal a day together or have a communal living space e.g living room.

Nuclear family: a traditional faimly with a mother and a father with children, the male is the breadwinner (earner). The "cereal packet" family with 2.4 kids.

Extended family: grandparents, mum and dad and grandkids living altogether

Beanpole family: Live an extended family but are thinner e.g grandparent,mum and one child. Many generations but small numbers.

Lone parent family: one parent with a dependant child/ren (usually mothers)

Gay families: same sex family with kids.

Re-constitued/step families: separate families, remarriaging couple bringing them together.

Empy nest family: Live in a house without kids,empty, moved out, grown up.

Functionalist view

George Murdock's universal residual functions

• Reproduction
• Economic
• Primary socialisation
• Emotional

Talcott Parsons: Family stripped of it's functions

• Socialisation of children
• Stabalisation of adult personalities [parents must bring up children to become good adults]

Vital to the health of society, without the nuclear family society will disintergrate/crumble.

Critique of functionalist view:

• "Over-romantic"/ Idealised
• "Warm bath theory" soothing/perfect

New Right view:

• Drop in nuclear families is a symptom and cause of fragmenting society
• Women should be housewives
• Men should be the breadwinners with jobs

Feminist view:

• Nuclear family exploits women, patriachal 
• Housework? Domestic violence?
• Less nuclear families = more equality
• Double burden
• Triple shift

Marxist view:

• Nuclear families became tradtional after Industrial revolution because they were easier to move around and provide for
• Helps maintain the capitalist society
• Re-creates inequalities between the different social classes

Extended families:

• + support with childcare/housework + support for elder members
• - large family has more expenses and need more living space

Changing roles within the family

Traditional division of labour: father (breadwinner), mother (homemaker)

Dual worker families result in Latch-Key children

• + economic support from both parents
• - less primary socialisation + support for children

Segregated conjugal roles:

• Traditonal roles done within the home
• Men- gardening/DIY 
• Women- cooking/cleaning

Double burden:

• Women have to go to work
• Domestic work
• Childcare (=Triple shift)

Symmetrical conjugal roles (Young & Willmott 1970s):

• Men & women contribute to work at home
• Feminists critisize men for taking the "glory jobs"
• "Long hours culture" - implication of men
• Developments within home e.g dishwasher

House husband: stay at home, look after kids, wife has high paid job, traditonal roles reversed

New man (created by media in 1990s):

• Share work equally
• In touch with their feminine side/ less masculine
• Feminists say it's a myth

Alternatives of families

Commune (e.g Kibbutz):

• Alternative to family life
• Based on political/religious views
• Share property + domestic work + responsibility of kids
• Children share dormitries, socialised together 
• Long-Term (like an extended family)

Singlehood (Short Term):

• Elderly people, life expectancy increases= more alone people (widows/ers)
• Divorced/separated people, e.g men- ex wife and kids
• Young adults, move out to college/uni (short term), marry later 

Shared Household (Short Term):

• Unmarried YA share house e.g friends
• Not involved with religions/politics

How far would sociologists agree that the decline in nuclear families is down to an increase in divorce rates?

Agree: Quickie divorce,easier,more socially acceptable=Royal Family, more secular society, "till death do us part" not a serious commitement.

Disagree: Feminists=increase in career women= less time at home/raising kids, weddings are expensive, co-habitation more popular=less comittement= socially acceptable,same sex marriages=decline in nuclear families

Conc - small extent that it's due to increased divorce rates (direct link), co-habitation=less marriages=decline in divorce rates.

Reasons for couples not to have children

• Expensive to have children= housing,clothing,educuation= solid amount of money
• Not wanting to pass genetically transmitted diseases to next generation (disabilities), would rather be "childfree"

Demography: the study of population e.g family size,births,deaths

Fertility: the amount of births per 100 women aged 15-44

Infant Mortality: the no of children dying in the first year of life per 100 live births

Life Expectancy: the average no of years a person can expect to live

Why are fertility rates decreasing?

• Infant mortality rates decreasing
• Feminism= career women > homemaker
• Contraception
• Women having kids at an older age
• Role models e.g Helen Mirren= childless/childfree
• Socially acceptable
• Threat of spreading genetic diseases 
• People live longer

Changes in life expectancy rates

Increased life expectancy is linked to:

• Advances in medicine and surgery during the 20^th century
• Healthier lifestyles and improvements to diet and nutrition over the last 30 years
• Welfare state provisions such as free healthcare through NHS
•  Decrease in infant mortality rates since the early 20^th century
• Improvements in public health/sanitation  during the 19^th and 20^th century such as clean water supplies and sewerage systems
• Improvements in preventive measures such as national screening programmes for breast cancer and vaccinations to prevent diseases like diphtheria and tetanus

-          Ageing population: In an ageing population, the proportion of the population over retirement age is gradually increasing

The Ageing population

As a result of declining fertility and longer life expectancy, the age structure of the UK population is changing. It now has a smaller proportion of young people and children and an increasing proportion of older people. In other words, it has an ageing population.

This may lead to changes in families/households such as:

• An increase in one-person households
• An increase in beanpole families

The social consequences of an ageing population include the following:

•  An increase in one person households containing older females who have outlived their husbands
•  An increase in multigenerational or beanpole families
•  The need to provide local authority care home services
• A possible rise in social exclusion among older people

Consequences of divorce:

• Rising divorce rates have contributed to an increase in some household and family types such as one-person households, single-parents, and reconstituted families
• Some children lose contact with fathers following their parents’ divorce
•  Divorced people may experience loss of emotional support
•  Divorce can lead to a loss of income for the former partners. After divorce, single parent families with dependent children may face financial hardship
• Conflict between the former husband and wife may continue after they divorce because of disputes regarding parenting/property issue

Contemporary parent-child relationships:

•  Relationships are less authoritarian – there is less emphasis on parental authority/discipline and more on children’s rights and individual freedom. Despite this, Pryor and Trindor (2004) found that m/c > w/c involve kids in decison making. (2.4 kids)
• Relationships are more child-centered – more focus on children’s interests and needs. 
• Children are more financially dependent on their family and for a longer time – school leaving age 16. Scott (2004) argues that some children may contribute by helping out in a family business or with childcare and housework.

Positive view of childhood:

• Child-centred shops + baby food + play centres
• Divorce cases= children's views listened to
• Quality family time (90 mins)= better communication
• More protected & valued

Negative view of childhood:

• Toxic Childhood (Sue Palmer)
• More sexualised (Toddlers & Tiaras)
• Drinking & smoking
• Child soldiers
• Internet/media/TV = "Social blurring"
• No specific age when children become adults

Family ties aren't wearing because E.M bring in different family cultures ect

Agree that the nuclear family is the best? (12)

Agree: Functionalists + N.R= most equipped to provide functions of a family, Dual workers can't provide emotional support

Disagree: Dual workers provide more financial support, Feminists say nuclear family = inequality, dark side = hidden poverty, domestic violence

Agree that the increase in secularisation is the main reason for increasing divorce rates? (12)

Agree: more secular society, "till death do us part" less important, less commitement, more socially acceptable to get divorced e.g Royal Family, 

Disagree: Quickie divorce easier and cheaper, rise in feminism= career women, increase in reconsituted families

Agree that the nuclear family is the best? (12)

Agree: Functionalists + N.R= most equipped to provide functions of a family, Dual workers can't provide emotional support

Disagree: Dual workers provide more financial support, Feminists say nuclear family = inequality, dark side = hidden poverty, domestic violence

Agree that the increase in secularisation is the main reason for increasing divorce rates? (12)

Agree: more secular society, "till death do us part" less important, less commitement, more socially acceptable to get divorced e.g Royal Family, 

Disagree: Quickie divorce easier and cheaper, rise in feminism= career women, increase in reconsituted families

Consquences of living in a step family:

• Adjusting to different expectations of behaviour
• More emotional/financial support needed
• Bad relationships between step children

Authority - where the power lies in a relationship, Traditonally men have power over finance and decision making, parents hold authority over kids, Men in control of finance could lead to hidden poverty, children have more authority according to the march in progress.

One change in womens roles and explain why this change has occured

• Women now work
• Traditionally they were housewives, now they're career women
• BECAUSE rise in feminism
• Job oppurtunities, more socially acceptable
• Equal Pay Act + Controlled fertility