Changing Patterns of Family Life: Ethnic Diversity

Family Diversity

- Berthoud (2000): Family life is changing across ethnic groups.

- South Asian families are more likely to retain traditional views on marriage and gender roles, but intergenerational difference in attitudes.

- In Black-Caribbean families, there is greater individualism and they are less likely to marry and have conventional families, cohabitation and serial monogamy is higher than in any other ethnic group.

British Asian Families

- Bhatti (1999): there is evidence of changing attitudes in younger generations of family, particularly towards marriage and mixed relationships.

- Traditional gender roles in older generations with lower levels of female employment for those with adult children.

- Motherhood was seen as being more important than employment, fathers would take on a traditional role…