WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology Revision Guide

35 Is the family in decline? Is the nuclear family under threat? Strengths of the view that the nuclear family is under threat are: There are more divorces now. 43 per cent of marriages end in divorce. There has been a growth in child-free families accompanied by the increased acceptability of contraception. There has been an impact of the changing role of men and the increase of women in the workplace and their changing status in society. There are more cohabiting couples than ever before. The effect of the gay rights movement and legal changes to same-sex relationships have changed views of families, as well as secularisation. An ONS survey in 2015 found that the size of the average family had fallen to an all-time low with women having an average of 1.9 children. The New Right believe that the family is in decline as they believe that it is only the nuclear family which is the ‘correct’family type. Changing norms and values such as views of single parents and teenage parents. Change in social attitudes have been accompanied by changes in how parents have children, through adoption or technological changes such as IVF or surrogacy. Weaknesses of the view that the nuclear family is under threat are: Families that split up can become reconstituted families. With extended families, changes in technology allow for regular contact and support at a distance. Increased freedoms for women have been accompanied by the growth of the New Man and house husbands. Most of those who cohabit marry eventually. Cohabitation is still often a trial marriage. Homosexual families are a form of family. Fewer children in a family is still a family. It can be ethnocentric. The importance of extended family in other communities, such as those in South Asian cultures, can be different. Lone-parent and teenage- parent families are forms of family. ONS figures show that in 2017 there were 19 million families in the UK, a 15 per cent increase from 16.6 million in 1996. You can also talk about the differences that ethnic minorities bring to family. Afro-Caribbean families have a higher proportion of lone-parent households. In 2012 over half of families with dependent children headed by a black person were lone-parent families. Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to have three generations but most are in fact nuclear rather than extended. Larger Asian households reflect the value placed on extended families in Asian cultures. Knowledge check 1. Describe what is meant by the nuclear family. (2 marks) 2. Identify two reasons for the increased number of lone- parent families today. (4 marks) 3. Explain two reasons why the family might be undergoing change today. (8 marks) 4. ‘The increase in the divorce rate reflects a decline in the traditional nuclear family.’ Is this statement accurate? (15 marks) Children can build close relationships with their grandparents when they live in an extended family. If you are thinking about the decline of the nuclear family, try to also think of ways of bringing in changes in the divorce rate, cohabitation, sociological perspectives on the family and differences between ethnicities and cultures. Brenda Almond believes that the traditional family is fragmenting and breaking down. This is for a number of reasons, for example, not as many people are getting married, the number of divorces is increasing and technological changes such as IVF which leads to children being raised by adults who are not their biological parents. Almond believes this fragmentation of the family is the cause of many of the problems in society today.