Family Diversity

1
Family Diversity

• An online learning resource from
  www.educationforum.co.uk

2
What is meant by diversity?

• Some sociologists are very critical of the New
  Right view that there is only one ideal type of
  family structure (nuclear family of heterosexual
  married couple with traditional roles), and
  suggest instead that family life in the UK is
  diverse this means there are a range of family
  types

3
Whatever happened to the nuclear family?

• 25 of all households comprise of people living
  alone and this is rising
• 27 of all households are married people without
  children
• In working class communities dispersed extended
  family arrangements still exist (kept together by
  modern communications)
• New family structures have emerged such as
  Cohabiting families, Lone Parent families,
  Reconstituted families, and Homosexual families.

4
Cohabitation

• As marriage has declined and divorce rates risen,
  the numbers of couples living together or
  cohabitating has also risen
• For woman aged 20-24 cohabitation rates increased
  from 1981-1990 from 6 to 16
• Nearly 40 of babies born to unmarried women are
  born to women who are cohabitating with the
  father of the child

5
Why Has Cohabitation increased?

• Giddens (a post modernist) suggests marriage is
  less relevant in modern society and less
  important in terms of economic security.
• Giddens also suggests that female attitudes to
  sexuality is responsible fidelity less
  important because of women's movement and
  contraception

6
Lone Parent Families

• The lone parent family is one of the most common
  family structures in modern society 1 in 5
  children now live in one parent families.
• Only 10 of lone parent families are headed by
  the father
• Between 1970 and 1990 the numbers of lone parent
  families doubled in the UK

7
Reconstituted Families

• These are families in which children from former
  relationships are brought to a new family
  relationship
• Over 1/3rd of all families are now Reconstituted
  mainly as a result of rising divorce rates

8
Ethnic Minority Families

• There is considerable diversity amongst ethnic
  minority families
• Afro Caribbeans have a high rate of female headed
  lone parent families
• Pakistani, Chinese and Bangladeshi origin
  families are more likely to be extended.

9
Homosexual Families

• The numbers of homosexual families (where parents
  are either gay or lesbian) is rising.
• It seems inevitable that as society becomes more
  tolerant this trend will increase

10
Conclusion

• It seems likely that very soon over half of all
  children will live in non traditional family
  arrangements
• Lesson Home