Policies of family

Starting from what i like the most.



Civil partnership Act in 2005 which grant same sex couples identical rights and responsibilities as opposite sex couples do.

1967, the Abortion Act which states that women have the right to have an abortion.

A series of factory act beginning in 1819 that gradually restrict child labour.

Divorce Reform Act of 1969, which made divorce easier and quicker.

1989, the Children Act which make the children have a choice in decision who they will live with.

1991 Child Support Act, It’s aim was to transfer the burden of the costs of the child from social security to the father.

The Adoption and Children Act of 2002, which came into affect in 2003, and made it easier for the biological, but unmarried father to obtain parental responsibility .

Is the nuclear family universal nowadays?

Nuclear family consist a husband and wife and one or more children, own or adopted, it is defined by Murdock, and according to him, he believed that the nuclear family is 'a universal social grouping.'

There are statistics shows the development of diversity of family, such as cohabiting, lone-parent, reconstituted,gay and lesbian families. In Britain，26% of families with dependent children were headed by lone parents in 2000(Social Trends,2002), 24% of non-married men and women under 60 were cohabiting in 2005.(Social Trends,2007) and etc.In Asia, around 20% of families are extended families.
The figures are increasing around the world, since people are tolerating the other forms of family.Governments are start to admit all type of family especially in Western countries, for example, the Civil partnership Act in 2005 in Britain which grant same-sex couple identical rights and responsibilities as the opposite-sex couples do.Many believes we are now live in the postmodern era. According Stacey, she sees family diversity as a reflection of postmodern society.There is no one family form to which everyone aspires.There are no generally agreed norms and values directing family.

All evidences seem to prove that nuclear family is not the dominant type of family.However, living in a nuclear family is a phase that most people, as children and adults, go through in the course of their life.The majority of British children still live in couple-headed households, up to 76% in 2006.(Social Trends, 2007).Most Asian households are based on nuclear families. Most importantly, the idea of the Universal Nuclear Family is so widely accepted due to the attention receives in the media. And the Governments seem to be more preferable to nuclear family, as the nuclear family can be a nurturing environment in which to raise children as long as there is love, time spent with children, emotional support, low stress, and a stable economic environment.So, although there is an increasing diversity of family, nuclear family is still universal now.

Statistic of family

Diversity of family

In Britain, 26% of dependent children were headed with lone-parent family in 2000, while there was only 7% in 1971. (Social Trends, 2002)

There are 75% of women in working age were economically active in 2000. 17% of women see their occupation as "take care of family." in 1991, and it has been declined to 13% in 2001.(Social Trends, 2002)

From 1970 to 2005, the proportion of women in paid employment had raise from 56% to 70%.(Social Trends.2007)

The above could be used to show the increasing lone-parents, women are economically independent, women see successful career as a alternative to traditional role as mothers and child-raisers.

The Civil Partnership Act in 2005 which grant same-sex couples same identical rights and responsibilities as opposite-sex married couples. There were 18,059 civil partnership in 2005 and 2006.

24% of non-married people under 60 were cohabiting in 2005 in the Britain, which is around twice the proportion in 1986.( Social Trends,2007)

The Divorce Reform Act in 1969 involved a major change in divorce. In 1969, the number of divorce in England and Wales was 51,310. In 1972, it increased to 119,025 and in 2006, it was 132,562. (Office of National Statistics.)


Nuclear family

Anderson found there is 23% of family contain kin beyond nuclear family based on data from 1851 in Preston of Lancashire.

During 1961 to 2006, the proportion of household that made up of couple with dependent children had declined from 38% to 22%. ( Office of National Statistics, 2007)

The majority of British children still live with couple headed household, 76% in 2006 compared to 92% in 1970. ( Social Trends. 2006)

Ethnic

In 2001, 48% of African-Caribbean families with dependent children were lone-parent families, compared to 22% for Britain as a whole. ( Social Trends, 2007)

Around 20% are extended families in Asia, a higher proportion than the other groups. (Westwood and Bhachu, 1988)
The above could be used to show ethnic groups have their own subcultures which differ from the mainstream culture)

Over the past 40 years, people had tended to marry later. In 1976, the average age for first marriage for men is 25 and 23 for women, in 2005, it was 32 for men and 29 for women.

Homework No.2

Examine the reasons for changes in the position of children in the last 200 years.

Industrialisation and Policy. In the 16th century, the upper classes sent their children to schools to be educated. In 17th century, the early year of the industrial revolution, child labour was widespread, they and adults worked side by side. Until 19th century, a series of factory acts banned the employment of children in mines and factories. By end of 19th century, elementary state education was compulsory in most European countries. Children were now physically separated from adult setting and had a separate legal status. 1989, Children Act states that " the child`s welfare must be paramount."

The diversity of family.In the early time, nuclear family seems to be the norm that most of people accepted. Most of the children are taken care by their mother.However, the increasing diversity of family have effect on the position of children. The increased divorce rate, there are evidence suggests that children of divorced family have a higher probability of experiencing a range of problem such as poverty, poor housing and behavioural problems, teenage pregnancy and educational under achievement. Only a minority of children actually have a better life after their parents divorced. Lone-parent family where a mother or father live without their partner but live with with their dependent child or children who must be never married and under 16 or 16 to 19 and taking full time education. In the New Right views, the lone-parent family fail to provide adequate socialisation. as most lone-parent family is headed by female, thus in the lone-mother family, the child have on father present to discipline the children and provide a male model. This can lead to anti-social behaviour.Lesbian and gay family. Their children are mostly adopted.Most studies show that children raised by gay and lesbian family are no different from those raised by heterosexuals family.

Social values.The most recent studies shows that the UK has the highest teenage birth rates in Western Europe - twice as high as in Germany, three times as high as in France and six times as high as in the Netherlands.This is a resulted by people`s openness about sex and relationships,low expectations of education and employment opportunities for some young people, ignorance about contraception, and mixed messages about sex from the adult world are all cited.And people do not feel it as shame that become pregnant before marriage or at teen-ages.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4584175.stm

In the 21th century. According to Nick Lee, adulthood has become less stable and more uncertain.In this respects, adults` behaviour are more like a child while children are increasingly seen as having their own rights and interests.

Homework~~~

Examine the effects of urbanisation and industrialisation on the family and household structure.



Urbanisation is the concentration increases in population in the cities or towns. And industrialisation is where a large part of workforce is entry to industries rather than agriculture or cottage and many production is mechanised.

According to Talcott parsons,this leads to isolated nuclear family.There is a loss of function performed by family as many of the function are taken by government. Family is no longer the production unit.A person`s statues is achieved rather than ascribed, so the children are less likely to have the same job as their parents had before. The extended family network may be harmful to the society as they might tie down the mobility of the worker.However, family still perform the function of socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult`s personalities.And the picture of isolated nuclear family may most probably been exaggerated.Modified extended family where people contact their extended family through the advanced technology is widespread,

Peter Laslett`s research shows that nuclear family was the norm in the pre-industrial England and Western Europe. And research by Michael Anderson suggest that the early stage of industrialisation may encourage the development of extended family, especially for working-class, they operated it as a mutual aid organisation, provide supports.

Okaley argues industrialisation have effects on women. During the early stage of industrialisation, married women often work in the factories. But since the restriction of the child labour began, they are gradually exclude from labour force and restricted to home. The housewife become the primary role for women. However, today the marjority of women have returned to labour force.

Michael Young and Peter Willomtt claim that the family in Britain has developed through three stage of industrialistion.
Firstly, the Pre-industrial family while family is a production unit.
Secondly, the early industrial family.extended family are widespread in working-class, some functions of family are taken over by government, school, industries and hospital.
Lastly, the symmetrical family. the typical family is nuclear, home-centred and privatised,most importantly, it is symmertrical which meant the role of husband and wife become increasingly similar.
However, they had been criticised for falling to address the negative aspect of changed in the modern family.Feminists argues the concept of symmetrical family, as women are still mainly reponsible for household tasks.And the extended family may be more important to address up than nuclear family.

In the 21st century,The family is undergoing radical changes under the pressure of an ageing population, longer lifespans, increased female working, the tendency to marry later in life, the falling birth rate and the rising divorce rate.A study of london based group says.With fewer brothers,sisters and cousins, the children are growing faster.This could lead to social dislocation since children are growing up isolated from other children and young adult, they would tend to adopt selfishness attitude.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/may/05

Homework of family

a. the expressive role is the role that women are take responsibility of childcare, house work, give emotional support and create home comfort.

b.Unpaid domestic labour; male domination; economically dependent on their husband.

c. firstly, with advances in medicine, all major diseases are declining. Secondly, nutrition and living standards, a health diet give a better health system thus raises levels of resistance to infection. lastly,welfare. governments began to be more responsibility for the health and welfare of their citizens, provided a healthier environment and reduced poverty.

d.Socially construction means something that is created by society. Childhood were not simply a natural state, it varies between different societies and different time.
According to Philippe Aries, the concept of childhood did not exist in medieval Europe,as previously children were considered adults as soon as they were physically able to perform adult tasks.Aries sees the modern concept of childhood developing from the separation of children from the world of adults as they are withdrawal from work place.However, Aries has been criticised for overstating his case. Children in medieval Europe were seen as different from adults.
Welfare state has changed in order to help improve childhood(the Children Act).Lone parenthood, particularly in lone-mother families, there is no father present to discipline the children and provide a male role model, this could have negative effect on children.Increase in divorce and its impact of children.According to Rodgers and Pryor, children of divorced families have a greater chance to experience a range of problems.Such as Financial hardship, behaviour problems, addiction to smoking or drink, poor educational out come. A nuclear family normally is the surest foundation for raising the children.However,children are still socialised within the family, and the vast majority of UK families are still nuclear in structure. Even though new family structure have emerged they still provide emotional and financial support.
According to Nick lee,in the end of 20th century,High divorce rate,labour market is changing rapidly .Adults has become more like children.Both were in a continual state of becoming, both were unstable and incomplete , when in the earlier, both were stable and complete.So, Children are increasingly seen as having their own rights and interests.
Neil Postman argues that children can be seperated, protected from adult world,but media is breaking down the bounaries between the worlds of children and adults,which results a disappearance of childhood.He has been criticied again, for overstating his case.childhood is a long way from disappearing.

e.With a number of changes have taken place, such as the rise in the number of same-sex couples and of lone parents. these have resulted in families becoming much more diverse.It might tend to give people an impression that nuclear family are no longer the norm.According to Anthony Giddens, we live in an era known as late modernity which characterised by choice and change.People have far more freedom to try on different identities and to try out different lifestyles. So family diversity is a reflection of the late modernity.They can choose to cohabit, to divorce, construucting gay and lesbian families, become lone parents rather than accept an unsatisfactory relationship.David Willett had admitted that family comes from all shapes and sizes, state has the duty to support them all.

However, Diana Gittins argues that the idealised picture of the nuclear family acts as a powerful ideology, defining what is normal and desirable and labelling alternative family forms as abnormal and undesirable.Most of the people would like to form nuclear family, this is only the second-best choice to form others when their marriage is failed.Somerville (2000) argues that these changes are exaggerated. The apparent diversity of family life is based on a snapshot at any one time and, if a life cycle approach is taken, many people have a fairly conventional experience of the family.Conservatives tend to see nuclear family as the best social arrangement for raising children.