Sociology A

Changing Structures of the Family

Changing Family Structures

Since the 1960s there have been a number of changes in the shape of European family. there have also been questions about the extent to which traditional & patriarchal family values are in decline and the extent to which the growth of individualism threatens family obligation. Major family trends are described below:

1. House holds are becoming smaller. The Ave. number of people living in a household has been falling for more than a decade .

There has been an increase in the proportion who live alone . This trend has been particularly marked in Denmark , Germany, France & the United Kingdom. In the UK in 1991 27% of households contained only one person, whereas in 1961 it was 14%.

Individuals are much less likely to live alone in Portugal, Spain & Greece where 3-5% of the population . A number of factors contribute to the drop in household size. Lower birth rates, fewer mature children living with their parents, an increase in the elderly ( often female) population.

2. Fertility rates have declined across Europe since the 1960s but there has been some variation within this overall trend. In northern Europe birth rates have reached a low plateau which is below Generational replacement. Not only are European women having fewer children but they are having them later. In 1975 the average European woman had her first child when she was 24 compared to 26 in 1990.

3. Marriage rates have declined since the 1960s ; fewer people are getting married & those that are marry later; in 1990 the average age for a first time marriage in the European Union was 27.6 years for men & 25.1 years for women. This decline has partially been balanced by the growth of cohabitation . In the UK 18% of unmarried men & women aged between 16-59 were living with a partner in 1992. Cohabitation is particularly prevalent as a prelude to marriage & in the aftermath of divorce.

There is a question as about whether cohabitation marks the development of a new type of domestic relationship with more tenuous connection to ‘family’. Bejin (1985) notes the prevalence of living together amongst the young & regards this ‘juvenile cohabitation’ as an attempt to maintain a more negotiated personal commitment & to emphasise the emotional aspects of the relationship. There is some debate about whether cohabitation is marriage by another name or an attempt to resist conjugality.

4. The divorce rate has risen everywhere in Europe except Eire , where divorce is still illegal. The UK now heads the European league table for marital dissolution for every two marriages been contracted , there is now one divorce. Furthermore over half the divorces involve dependent children, & as the average time between first marriage and divorce shortens the age of the children involved in divorce is declining.

5. The growth in marriages and reconstituted families. In 1991 15% of marriages for both men & women were second or subsequent marriages., compared with 9% of marriages for men & 7% for women in 1960

Again the popularity of cohabitation may mask the number of dissolving partnerships because it reduces the numbers of officially recorded dissolution’s. The growing prevalence of divorce & remarriage has been said to add a greater turbulence to contemporary kinship relationships & flux to family living arrangements.

6. The growing number of children born outside marriage. Since 1975 this has increased threefold to reach 19% of births in the European Union 1991. However figures vary widely from 47% of Danish births & 30% of UK & French births to 2% of Greek and 6% of Italian births.

7. The growth of four Generational families . as life expectancy has increased , so Generational ties have been extended. as a result elder care is been received and delivered by older age groups, and elderly parents are more likely to be pre-deceased by their children.

8. The growth of gay families and partnerships . Homosexual men and women may live in couples as if married and seek to adopt foster , and in the case of women have children through AID . Gay partners may wished to recognised as next of kin and prime carers. Danish law recognises marriage between homosexual partners.

Groupwork: In small groups prepare a presentation in which answers the questions below:

1. Will the trends identified in the eight points above continue Yes/ no.

2. For each of the point give reasons for your groups answer.