The family is a social group charcterised by common residence, economic cooperation & reproduction. Includes adults of both sexes maintaining a socially approved sexual relationship and have one or more owner or adopted children 

Researched family diversity in Britain finding there 5 main types of family type diversity. 

1: Generational Diversity - Attitudes and statistcs that reflect a particular historical period 

2: Life-Stage Diversity - Family structures differ according to the stage reached in the life-cycle

3: Organisational Diversity - Differences in the ways family roles are organised (e.g JCR) 

4: Cultural Diversity - Different cultural, relgious & ethnic groups have different family structure

5: Social Class Diversity - Differences in family structure are party result of income & class       differences 

Studied UK family structure and geographic location relationship 

Rural = Low levels of female employment, lots of nuclear familes & alone elderly people 

Urban = Social deprivation, vast cultural & relgious diversity, different types of families 

Geriatric wards = Lots of eldery, couples without children, one person households

Older Declining Industrial Areas = Extended familes, patriachy families 

Newly Declining Industrial Areas = Lots of unemployment, singletons and childless couples

The sunbelt = Higher social class, owner occupiers, nuclear families - Traditional 

Recognises family diversity but doesn't see it as significant 

Traditional Nuclear Family ---------> Neo-Conventional Family 

This means - Dual earner families - Symmetical 

Views Nuclear family as 'ideal' - states everyone is in one at some point in their life 

Views gay marriage as a negative thing - Stating it will destabilise family life 

- States with gay marriage comes a drop in hetro marriage rates 

- Leads to cohabitation and children being born out of wedlock 

Views marriage is under threat

Marrage statistics not completely reliable - As many are now chose to marry abroad 

Young couples prefer an equal relationship and avoid patriarchy ideas of marriage 

--- Meaning cohabitation ---- 

Its is a trail marriage and is the stage before getting married 

- Saw  divorce as coming more common since the 1969 Divorce Reform Act - Due to decline in stigma 

High expectations of marriage in this current day means rising divorce rates 

Argue the increase in lone parent families is due to the 2 main factors of :

1) High divorce rates 

2) Rise of births by unmarried mothers 

Term '*******' no longer used - Showing reduced stigma in 'illegitatmate' children 

- More benifital a child comes from a one parent family rather than one together just because of the child 

- Lone parent families good if domestic violence occured