Changing Patterns of Family Life: Life Course Analysis

Introduction

- The life course refers to the events that take place throughout an individual's life and how they assigning meaning to those.

- Marked by stages of an individual's life such as childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle and old age.

- Decided by decisions made such as education, relationships, marriage and divorce, childbearing and retirement.

Changes in the Life Course

- In the modern era, the life course followed a stable set of norms and values for most individuals.

- People would be brought up in a nuclear family, enter a life-long marriage, have children and then retire at 65.

- Changes to society in the 1950s and 1960s have led to changes in the way that people made decisions about their own life course; there is increasing diversity of personal lives.

Key Changes in Society

- Rise of feminism.

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