...the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks) Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society: the sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions. However, the numbers of nuclear families have fallen due to a rise in family diversity such...
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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...
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...of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family In the past, traditionally families have mostly been the ‘traditional nuclear family’ made up of a married man and woman and at least one child. However there has recently been a decline in the amount of traditional nuclear families and an increase in the amount of diverse families. There are now less people following the traditional view that the nuclear family is the ‘normal’ way to live. The diverse families now include families such as, lone parent families, reconstituted family, extended family, lone person households, cohabiting couples and same sex couples. In this essay I will discuss the view that the traditional nuclear family has decline as a result of the growth of family diversity and the reasons why people are no longer following past tradition. New right believe that the incline in family diversity is a cause of many social problems. They believe that the increase in family diversity is the reason for economic problems. Charles Murray believes that there is now a ‘perverse incentive’ for young girls to get pregnant. He believes that there are young girls purposely getting pregnant with the knowledge that the government are going to give them a house and benefits for them to live in with their babies. An increase in the amount of young girls becoming pregnant has led to an increase in the amount of single parent living in the U.K which has led to the decrease in the ‘traditional’ nuclear...
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...Using the Material from Item 2b and Elsewhere, Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family Using the material from item 2B and elsewhere, assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family In the past, traditionally families have mostly been the ‘traditional nuclear family’ made up of a married man and woman and at least one child. However there has recently been a decline in the amount of traditional nuclear families and an increase in the amount of diverse families. There are now less people following the traditional view that the nuclear family is the ‘normal’ way to live. The diverse families now include families such as, lone parent families, reconstituted family, extended family, lone person households, cohabiting couples and same sex couples. In this essay I will discuss the view that the traditional nuclear family has decline as a result of the growth of family diversity and the reasons why people are no longer following past tradition. New right believe that the incline in family diversity is a cause of many social problems. They believe that the increase in family diversity is the reason for economic problems. Charles Murray believes that there is now a ‘perverse incentive’ for young girls to get pregnant. He believes that there are young girls purposely getting pregnant with the knowledge that the government are going to give them a house...
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...n: Social Issues Assess the View That the Growth of Family Diversity Has Led to the Decline of the Traditional Nuclear Family “Assess the view that the growth of family diversity has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family.” (24 marks) Before 1970, cohabitation was illegal in certain countries. The law changed and now cohabitation is a common pattern among people around the world, as well as having sex before marriage and having a baby. At least 50% to 60% of couple’s cohabitate, starting from the late 1990’s. This results into the amount of traditional nuclear families decreasing as people want to live in companionship as nearly half the amount of marriages end in divorce. Also cohabiting is an easier way as it is much cheaper since there is no marriage expenses and doesn’t cause much hassle. The New Right see the decline of the traditional nuclear family and the growth of family diversity as negative trends in modern society. From the New Right perspective, these changes are the cause of many social problems in Britain today. In society now, there is easy access to contraception and married couples are not having children for various reasons which has led to the decline of the traditional nuclear family. There has been an increase in marriage of 9.2% between 2006 and 2011. Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society:...
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...Demographic transformation: the dilemma of sub-Saharan Africa Demographic transformation or transition is referred to as the process by which a country moves from high birth and high death rates to low birth and low death rates with population growth in the interim. The demographic transition model is comprised of 5 stages. The Sub- Saharan African region is believed to be still in stage 1, which refers to having high death rates and high fertility rates (birth rates) although the condition is far better than it was just a few years back. The demographic transition started in European populations living in Europe and elsewhere around 1880 and at present, almost all developing countries have entered the demographic transformation, i.e. mortality rates are declining and fertility rates follow. It was believed that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will also follow the same pattern. But the demographic transformation has taken the speed of a slug in this part of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa mostly consists of countries regarded as underdeveloped or developing and is part of the so-called Third World. Third World countries share many characteristics but at the continental level they are not the same. For instance, sub-Saharan Africa is sparsely populated, in contrast to South and East Asia, and it is much less urbanized than Latin America. It stands out amidst the other major regions of the Third World for having the slowest rate of economic growth in recent years: an average annual...
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...Today, the definition of family is very complex and cannot be explained in just a few words or lines. It can be said that the word ‘family’ has more than one meaning and this makes it more complicated for one to understand the meaning of family. According to most people, a family can be one in the traditional sense with two heterosexual parents with children, one with two parents of the same sex with an adopted child, one with a single parent. But maybe a family could be made of multiple partners; as an example in Judith Stacey’s book with the three gay partners living together. Maybe it could even be a live-in relationship where the partners are not married, as opposed to popular belief. The word family is not restricted to only these instances and can be illustrated in various other ways without a set structure or definition. In the article “American Family Decline”, Popenoe argues that the definition of family is changing and cannot be attributed to just one concept. He argues the state of the changing American family and states the causes for these changes. But due to the complexity of the word he desires to relate family to its traditional view with one father, one mother and the two children to whom they gave birth all living collectively in the same house. According to Popenoe, since the 1960’s up to the 90’s there has been a rapid shift in the percentages of the changing family. He further states that there has been an increase in the divorce rates in the past couple...
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...religion isn't declining but the need to publicise it is reducing, religion is taking a more privatised form. This can explain the decline in churchgoers; they no longer feel like they have to go to church to be religious, now attending church is a matter of choice rather than society frowning upon those who chose not to go. This has brought around ‘believing without belonging’, thus the decline of traditional religion is matched by the growth of a new form of it. Proving that modern society is not becoming increasing secular but forming new religions through choice and diversity. However, Voas and Crockett reject the claims Davie puts forward, explaining that if her thesis was to be true the British Social Attitudes survey from 1983 to 200 would show that belief in God is increasing, although it shows that not only is church attendance declining but also peoples belief in God. If Davie were right with new religions forming the surveys would've shown higher levels of belief. Bruce also interjects the view that if those who are religious are not willing to invest time into attending church, this must reflect the declining strength of their beliefs, thus the secularisation thesis must be somewhat accurate. Hervieu-Léger supports the theme of personal choice and believing without belonging. She believes that there has been a significant decline in institutional religion in Europe, with less people attending church in most countries. She says ‘cultural amnesia’ is partly to...
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...New right ideology has always viewed state policy as the reason why the traditional family institution is in decline in Britain today. Whether this is an accurate reflection on state policy will be assessed in this essay. Functionalists have always had a traditional view on family ideology where there is a clear segregation of tasks between the man and the women which is seen as natural or God given. But through the introduction of government policies in order to cater for the changing image of the family, functionalists feel that this is causing the nuclear family as an institution to be in decline. They believe that the 1960s and the 1970’s was a big turning point for the decline in familiar ideology as the state introduced policies such as the legalisation of abortion which was seen as women lessening their commitment to the family and the availability of the contraceptive pill. This introduction had a significant effect on the family as it undermined the family as private institution where important decisions could be made. Other policies such as the role of social workers through the local government, as discussed in item B were “if social workers feel that the upbringing of children is not provided properly children could be temporarily or permanently taken into care”. This has an effect on the nuclear family in particular because it means that the family’s privacy is undermined. Functionalists such as Howard argue that the state and the media have made marriage have less...
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...social policies affect family life A social policy is a law implemented by the government to benefit society. Most social policies will affect families in some way or another. There are 2 types of policies, direct and indirect. A direct policy has a direct and immediate affect on the family, and an indirect policy is other policies not directly aimed at families but may still have an affect on them. Social policies have attempted to promote the nuclear family, such as those introduced by New Labour and the Conservative government, although New Labour are more accepting of family diversity. The New Rights ideology has influenced government policies. They argue that policies have weakened the nuclear family leading to family diversity and more problems for family members. The New Right have the view that social policies should avoid doing anything that might undermine the 'natural' and self reliant nuclear family and will often criticise many government policies for undermining the family by providing over generous welfare benefits e.g. council housing for teenage mothers. The New Right argues that social policies like the legalization of abortion and the availability of the contraceptive pill is the beginning of family decline. They also state that equal opportunities and equal pay lows distract women from their 'natural' career as a mother. The New Right feel that policies like this is causing a decline in the traditional nuclear family, resulting in the family not fulfilling its...
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...describes the division of labour in the traditional nuclear family in terms of an expressive role and an instrumental role. However, this traditional arrangement may have changed as families have changed, and many feminists use the term ‘dual burden’ to describe the woman’s role in the family today. Item 2B Government policies and laws include tax and benefit policies as well as legislation such as relating to divorce and marriage. Sociologists have different views on the impact of these policies and laws on families. For example, feminists argue that social policies assume that the ideal family is a patriarchal nuclear family, and that government policies and laws therefore favour this sort of family. On the other hand, the New Right argue that the benefit system undermines traditional nuclear families by actively encouraging lone parents. 0 6 Explain what is meant by the ‘dual burden’ (Item 2A). (2 marks) 0 7 Explain the difference between the expressive role and the instrumental role (Item 2A). (4 marks) 0 8 Suggest three ways in which the differences between children and adults are becoming less clear in society today. (6 marks) 0 9 Examine the reasons for, and the effects of, changes in family size over the past 100 years or so. (24 marks) 1 0 Using material from Item 2B and elsewhere, assess sociological views of the impact of government policies and laws on family life. Item 2A Over the past 40 years or so, there has been a decline in the number of first marriages...
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...Assess the view that the nuclear family is no longer the norm (24 Marks) In today’s society, the family is not as big as it used to be earlier though the decades, the nuclear family at least. Many sociologists have criticised the family e.g. feminists and the way in which it is run. The Nuclear Family is known as the traditional family. The nuclear family was mainly dominant in the 1960s when most of the UK was working in factories and looking for jobs, this family type allowed families to move around the country easily enough, this aspect is called geographical mobility. Another aspect of the family in terms of Functionalist ideals, is the gender-role socialization in which the children are brought up in a way that gender stereotypes are made, for example boys are brought up to be tough and play with cars and play sports, while girls are brought up to be sensitive and play with dolls and gossip with each other. The final function of the nuclear family is the socialization of children which teaches them the norms and values of society. Functionalists have many studies of this, like Murdock who studied 250 societies and therefore decided that the nuclear family was Universal and that the nuclear family had 4 main functions: sexual, reproductive, educational and economic. However Parsons view along with this were both proven wrong as it was said their studies were too simplistic. However many perspectives disagree by saying that the nuclear family is used for different reasons...
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...Examine the reasons for the divorce rate in Britain today. Divorce is the legal separation of married couples. A divorce rate is the number of divorces occurring among the population of a given area during a given year. Since the 1960s there has been a great increase in the number of divorces in the United Kingdom. In Britain today, the numbers have fallen somewhat, but still stood at around 157,000 in 2001. This rate shows that about 40% of marriages will end in divorce. Some couples are more likely to divorce than others – couples such as those who marry young, those who have a child or cohabit before marriage and those where one or both partners have been married before. Functionalists are interested in divorce because they argue that a high divorce rate does not necessarily prove that marriage as a social institution is under threat. One reason for the changing rates in divorce is due to changes in the law. In previous centuries divorce was very hard to obtain, especially for women. Gradually changes in the law have made it easier for divorce to be achieved. Law changes such as equalising rights for men and women in the area of divorce, widening the grounds for divorce and making divorce cheaper are all factors which are changing the rates of divorce. Although divorce legally ends a marriage, couples find other solutions to solve the problem of an unhappy marriage; one partner leaving the other although they remain legally married (desertion); legal separation of the financial...
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...The American family is in a state of decline as research shows. In the year 1950, the birth rate of unmarried women was 14 .1 per thousand. This increased to 43 .8 per thousand in the year 1990. This is a three hundred and ten percent increase. In the year 1950, illegitimate babies were approximately 150, 000 while in the year 1990 they were 1, 150, 000. This was a high rise. Research in United States indicates that between the years 1950 and 1990 there was a tremendous increase in the number of unmarried teenagers aged 15-19 years. This increase was from 12 .6 percent to 42 .5 percent in the year 1990 (Biblarz, 1993 In the last decade there has been a sixty percent increase in number of births out of wedlock. Research shows that divorce rate has also increased tremendously over the last decade. This is greatly attributed to the United States marriage rate. This has steadily grown for the last twenty five years. Today the break ups in the married couples has increased and there are normally no official records to show for this even when children are involved. The divorce rate in United States accelerated during the 1960’s and peaked in the year 1981 In the year 1970, four percent of the entire adult population had gone through a divorce. In the year 1992 this rate had increased to eleven percent. This was a tremendous increase within a span of twenty two years only. This was approximately a 226 percent increase. Today approximately 50 of the marriages in United States...
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...EVIDENCE THAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT DEAD -MCGLONE – found that unemployment, poverty, community care for the elderly and increasing numbers of young people living at home longer, means that there is a need to family mutual support systems. –nuclear families feel a strong sense of obligation towards extended family in times of family crises. -FINCH –found that in working class are areas, the extended family is still common. Her study pf the East End of London found that adults often live only a few streets away from their close relatives and partners- visit regularly- especially if they have daughters. -MASON (1993)- study of Greater Manchester found that over 90% of the sample had given or received financial help from relatives and almost 60% shared a household with an adult relative other than their parents at some point in their lives. The term MODIFIED EXTENDED FAMILY is used to show how the nuclear family and individuals still have ties to extended kin. EVIDENCE THAT THE NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT DEAD -MCGLONE – found that unemployment, poverty, community care for the elderly and increasing numbers of young people living at home longer, means that there is a need to family mutual support systems. –nuclear families feel a strong sense of obligation towards extended family in times of family crises. -FINCH –found that in working class are areas, the extended family is still common. Her study pf the East End of London found that adults often live only a few streets away...
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