Family : Young and Wilmott

• -Parsons claimed that in pre- industrial Britain=extended and after industrialisation=nuclear. Young & Wilmott researched the area of Bethnal Green in London in the 1950s and found that the change from extended families to nuclear families was gradual, with many extended families still strong, especially among the lower working class. They suggested that the decline in extended families occurred in the 1960s when full employment meant that family members no longer had to rely on each other for financial support. 1/2
• -Young and Wilmott 2/2 Around this time, the government implemented a massive slum clearance and built many new towns on the outskirts of cities. Families were broken up as they were rehomed. Young & Wilmott interviewed over 2500 families across London and found that the nuclear family was replaced with the symmetrical family where both parents work and both take on a share of the household chores and childcare.