FAMILY STRUCTURES AND DIVERSITIES

The Decline of the Nuclear Family

What is Family?

The debate between structural functionalism and Feminism continues into the new millennium.

1. What is Family? 2. How is it organized?

Issues regarding “Family”

IS A FAMILY A COLLECTION OF INDIVIDUALS UNITED BY LOVE?

IS FAMILY AN INSTITUTION?

IS FAMILY A COLLECTIVE IDEAL OF DAYS GONE BY?

Functionalist-nuclear family is the foundation of human society

Conflict/Feminist-nuclear family is a capitalistic creation feeding industry through invisible labour inside the home.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONIST-”Family is a unity of interacting personalities”

See Ernest Burgess of the Chicago School.

Stages in Family Patterns

1900 –1914 Domestic family1914-1918 WW1 –women in factories1919-1929 Return to domesticity

Mid 20thc to Now

1929-1939 Depression and survival1945-1960 Cult of domesticity Nuclear 1960-1980 Second Wave Feminism1980-1990 New Right vs Third Wave Feminism1990-2008-Global economy.

Historical Family Types

The CLANThe Extended FamilyThe Bi-lateral extended familyNuclear family

New Alternatives

Modified Extended FamilySingle Parent FamilySame Sex FamilyBlended/Reconstituted or Step Family

The Traditional Nuclear Family The Traditional Nuclear Family and New Alternativesand New Alternativeslegally married never married singlehood, nonmarital cohabitationwith children voluntary childlessnesstwo-parent single-parentpermanent divorce, remarriagemale primary provider, egalitarian (dual-career) ultimate authoritysexually exclusive extramarital relationshipsheterosexual same-sex relationships, households

Some Alternative Family Forms:

Stepfamily Common-law couples, Gay-lesbian couples, Single/never married older adultsVoluntary Childless couples

Crude Divorce Rate, Crude Divorce Rate, Canada, 1968-2003Canada, 1968-2003

2.3

3.1

0.5

0

1

2

3

4

1968 1988 2003

Div

orc

es

per

1,0

00

popula

tion

Year

The crude divorce rate is the number of divorces that occur in a year for every 1,000 people in the population.

The Growing Diversity of The Growing Diversity of Canadian Families, 1981-2006 Canadian Families, 1981-2006 (in percent)(in percent)

1.9

3.7

11.3

55

28.129.9 38.7

15.98.5

6.9

1981 2006

20th century family changes

1. Separation of the workplace and the home.

2. Retreat of the family into domesticity

3. Identification of stages in life such as childhood and adolescence.

4. More clearly defined life transitions leaving home, marriage, separate household.

William Goode 1963

 In his book World Revolution and Family Patterns Goode argues... 

" There is a fit between industrialization and the nuclear family...the world direction is towards some kind of conjugal/nuclear family pattern-

The Decline in Household Size

The average household size is declining in Canada and this is especially evident with the increase of people living alone.

Living Alone-

Living Alone- In 2001, 35 percent of women and 16 percent of men aged 65 and over lived alone.

This was an increase of 10% since 1981

Living Alone

The proportion of households comprising people living alone grew from …One fifth of all households in 1981 To about one quarter in 2001 (Statistics Canada 2002e)

Sandwich Generation

. The 2001 Census shows that 41 percent of young adults aged 20 to 29 lived with their parents, a substantial increase from 27 percent in 1981

Older Kids Living at home

. Living at home is more likely for young men than women aged 20 to 24 (64 vs. 52 percent) and aged 25 to 29 (29 vs. 19 percent).

This could be called the "adolescentizing" of young adults.

Married with Children

        Married with children falls short of majority        Legally married with or without children ¾ of all families        Canadian families dispersed along various dimensions        Most Canadians marry at least once60% of all between 25-29

Common Law Families

2001, 7.5 percent of families were common-law couples,

6.3 percent of families were common-law couples with children,

Common-law with children

1. There is a declining percentage of married couples with children.

2. There is an increase in common-law couples with children at home

Same Sex Coupling

A total of 34 200 couples, 0.5 percent of all couples, identified themselves as same-sex in this census. Macionis Society Updated Second Canadian Edition (p. 324)

Gay and Lesbian families-

Gay fathers are better at setting limits and are more responsive to their children than heterosexual fathers, gay fathers are less traditional. Better childhood adjustment and majority of the children are heterosexual. (Bailey, 1995; Golombok and Tasker, 1996)

Civil Marriage Act

On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the approval of the Civil Marriage Act.

Court decision

Court decisions, starting in 2003, each already legalized same-sex marriage in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories, whose residents comprised about 90% of Canada's population.

    Step Families/aka. Blended Families

Some marry some do not-Step parents often use different child rearing practices. Children often view stepparents as intruders.

 

Stepfamily Problems

More friction is noted particularly among uneducated working class families. Girls are most effected by the introduction of stepfather to single parent households headed by women.

Summary

THE UNIT OF THE FAMILY IS SMALLER AND MORE DIVERSE THAN EVER BEFORE.

FUNCTIONALIST LAMENT THE DECLINE OF NUCLEAR FAMILYFEMINISTS-see diversity as a capitalist creation