Variation in family types

• Ethnic differences

  • Greater ethnic diversity has contributed to changing family patterns in the UK
  • Berthoud has argued that British culture is becoming more individualistic which is impacting family life among different ethnic groups
• Black families

  • Black Caribbean and Black African people have a higher proportion of LPF
  • In 2012, just over half of families with dependent children headed by a black person were LPF
  • Mirza argues that the higher rate of LPF among blacks isn't the result of disorganisation, but rather reflects the high value that black women place on independence
• British South Asian families

  • Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to be larger than those of other ethnic groups
  • More traditional with higher rates of marriage and low rates of cohabitation and divorce
  • Bangladeshi and Pakistani wives are usually full-time homemakers
• British South Asian families

  • Such households sometimes contain 3 generations, but most are nuclear instead of extended.
  • Larger Asian household sizes are partly a result of the younger age profile of British Asians. The young have a strong sense of duty on 'izaat' or family honour
  • They reflect the value placed on the extended family in Asian cultures.
• White British families

  • Lower marriage rates, lower fertility rates, later marriage
  • Smaller family sizes
  • Higher rates of cohabitation and divorce
  • Once married, setting up a separate household was the norm
• The extended family

  • Wilmott says that while the extended family may have declined it has not completely disappeared
  • We now have a dispersed extended family - where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls
  • The extended family survives because it performs important functions - financial and domestic help
• The beanpole family

  • It is extended vertically - 3 or more generations
  • It isn't extended horizontally - it doesn't involve aunts, uncles, cousins
  • This occurs as a result of increased life expectancy and smaller family size