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Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family

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Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.
The traditional nuclear family consists of a spouse and a husband with children. Firstly, a reason for the decline in the nuclear family is because of divorce. As divorce has increased there has been a rise in cohabitations. Cohabitations involve an unmarried couple in a sexual relationships living together. Whilst the number of divorces increase the number of cohabitations has also, making it fastest growing family type in the UK. There are over two million cohabitaing couples in britian, and in addition about a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting – double the amount in 1986. There are many reasons for the increase of cohabitations. Firstly, it can be linked to the decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage. This is also relevant to the decline in stigma to divorce, so now people are less bothered about divorce, therefore the outcome after a divorce will be a reconstituted family or a singleton life style. Secondly the increased career opportunities for women now mean that they no longer need a husband to sustain a family or themselves. Also now women do not feel the need to pursue a family, but rather some prefer to pursue a career, which can lead to them never being married, or being married at a later age, which can reduce the chances of having children, reducing the traditional nuclear family which consisted of children and married parents. Secularisation also plays a major part in the decline of the nuclear family. Secularisation is when religious views and values influence is decreased in society. As the influence of religious views decline, people no longer feel the need to get married and may just cohabit, as the 2001 consensus proves, stating that young people with no religious views were more likely to cohabit

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