Modernity and the family

• Modernity

  • The period of time from the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment (late 1600s) to approximately 1970.
  • Economic production is industrial.
  • Increased urbanisation.
  • Bureaucracy and the state.
  • Scientific thinking and rationality.
  • Technological advances improve society.
• Chester (1985)

  • There has been increased family diversity but this is not problematic.
  • There has been a move from conventional (nuclear) families to 'neo-conventional' families.
  • Conventional families have a male breadwinner and female caregiver; a clear division of labour.
  • Neo-conventional families are dual-earning.
  • For Chester, this is the only significant difference between the two family types and there is no other evidence of significant change.
• Chester (1985)

  • Supporting evidence for the lack of change:
  • Most people live in a household headed by a married couple.
  • Most adults marry and have children.
  • Divorce may have increased, but remarriages suggest a commitment to marriage; many marriages will continue until the death of one partner.
  • Cohabitation is simply a temporary phase before marriage.
  • Births are occurring outside marriages but there are often two parents registering the birth of a child, demonstrating a commitment to each other and the family.
• Chester (1985)

  • People still aspire to be a part of a nuclear family, and Chester notes most people will belong to one at some point, if not most of, their lives.
  • People are not choosing to live in alternative family structures, it's just a part of the human life cycle.
  • Chester argues the statistic on family diversity are misleading- they only show a 'snapshot of time' and these people were once part of a nuclear family, and are likely to be again.
  • The extent of impact on family diversity is exaggerated.
• Rapoport and Rapoport (1982)

  • Diversity is critical to understanding families in Britain today.
  • Society has moved away from the nuclear family as the traditional and dominant family type.
  • British society is 'pluralistic'.
  • There is greater diversity of culture, language and lifestyles than ever before, which reflects greater freedom of choice and widespread acceptance within British society.
  • Diversity is a positive- it allows people to choose family types which address their needs and wishes.
• Rapoport and Rapoport (1982)

  The five types of family diversity:

  • cultural
  • Life-stage
  • Organisational
  • Generational
  • Social Class
• Rapoport and Rapoport

  • Cultural Diversity
  • Family structures differ within cultural, religious and ethnic groups.
  • Higher numbers of extended families within Asian households and higher numbers of lone-parent families within Black Caribbean households.
• Rapoport and Rapoport

  • Life-stage Diversity
  • Diversity within families according to the stage the individual has reached in their life cycle.
  • Newlyweds, divorces, pensioners living alone.
• Rapoport and Rapoport

  • Organisational Diversity
  • Differences between the family roles in particular households.
  • Joint-conjugal, segregated conjugal, dual earners, lone earners etc.
• Rapoport and Rapoport

  • Generational Diversity
  • The differences attitudes between older and younger generations relating to marriage and divorce etc.
• Rapoport and Rapoport

  • Social Class Diversity
  • Income differences between households.
  • Economic and material factors affect the diversity of household types, but also the way in which childrearing occurs.