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What did Marxist Zaretsky believe about the family? Zaretsky does not believe that the family is able to provide for the psychological and social needs of the individual. Whilst cushioning the effects of capitalism it perpetuates the system and cannot compensate for the general alienation produced by such a society.

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What did Marxist Zaretsky believe about the family? Zaretsky does not believe that the family is able to provide for the psychological and social needs of the individual. Whilst cushioning the effects of capitalism it perpetuates the system and cannot compensate for the general alienation produced by such a society.

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Functionalist Talcott Parsons suggest the family is a warm bath that provides emotional support and needs are met

Zaretsky suggests the family provides cushioning effect from perpetual capitalism

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Use sociologists'theories to illustrate your understanding of the perspective
Don't forget to cite and reference correctly

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The dark side of the family is often overlooked by the main sociological theories. This side of the family addresses internal issues within the unit, such as domestic violence and abuse (sexual, physical and emotional). It is predicted that domestic violence will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime.

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The dark side of the family is often overlooked by the main sociological theories. This side of the family addresses internal issues within the unit, such as domestic violence and abuse (sexual, physical and emotional). It is predicted that domestic violence will affect 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men in their lifetime.

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How have laws changed concerning Divorce for example made it easier for people to part ways ?

Have the Norms and Values in society changed regarding marriage and divorce and cohabitation ?

How might this have impacted family diversity ?

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The nuclear family has been declining in prevalence since the late 20th century as a result of factors such as increased divorce rates, cohabitation, single-parent households, and same-sex marriage

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The nuclear family has been declining in prevalence since the late 20th century as a result of factors such as increased divorce rates, cohabitation, single-parent households, and same-sex marriage

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The nuclear family is the New Rights ideal family type They support social policies which encourage nuclear families – they are pro marriage and against benefits for single mothers.

* Which other sociological perspectives also view the nuclear family as being ideal for society ?

* Can you find any New Right social policies that support married couples & nuclear families ?

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As it stands, and in fact since 1973, The fertility rate in England and Wales has been below 'replacement level'. As described by the source, "replacement fertility is the level of fertility required for the population to replace itself in size in the long term.

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As it stands, and in fact since 1973, The fertility rate in England and Wales has been below 'replacement level'. As described by the source, "replacement fertility is the level of fertility required for the population to replace itself in size in the long term.

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Giddens's argues modern relationships are built on intimacy, closeness and emotion, while in the past they were constructed around duty and obligation.

Traditional images of romantic love are often viewed as 'forever after' what we term monogamous love. Yet the reality is 'romantic love' tends to let us down and because of this sociologists like Giddens' talk of confluent love (it sometimes easier to view confluent love as contemporary love).

Contemporary love is where people separate or divorce when the relationship isn't working for them. Hence modern relationships 'confluent love' only lasts as long as partners find satisfaction and fulfillment which contrasts with the sense of duty or economic dependence more traditionally seen as being the adhesive which holds couples together.

Giddens writes: 'Unlike romantic love, confluent love is not necessarily monogamous, in the sense of sexual exclusiveness. What holds the pure relationship together is the acceptance on the part of each partner, 'until further notice', that each gains sufficient benefit from the relation to make its continuance worthwhile. Sexual exclusiveness here has a role in the relationship to the degree to which the partners mutually deem it desirable or essential' (from Giddens (1992).

Giddens' ideas might go some way in explaining frequency of divorce being at its highest among couples in their 20s. The following articles discusses the growing trend it what has become termed 'starter marriages' and the stigma of being 'left on the shelf'.

Can you imagine the avert below having any meaning to the audience if a sense of duty was the only keeping couples together?

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Giddens's argues modern relationships are built on intimacy, closeness and emotion, while in the past they were constructed around duty and obligation. Traditional images of romantic love are often viewed as 'forever after' what we term monogamous love. Yet the reality is 'romantic love' tends to let us down and because of this sociologists like...

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Here is a Kahoot quiz to test yourselves on the postmodernist perspective 

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Postmodernist perspective on the family 

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Postmodernist perspective on the family 

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How did you do ? If you can see any gaps in your knowledge revisit those areas on the slides on Google Classroom

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Join a game of kahoot here. Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn - any subject, in any language, on any device, for all ages!

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When talking about childhood as a social construct, you need to remember the focus is on perceptions or the ways we see children and how this can change.

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Social Constructions of Childhood - 14 Examples

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In this article: Definition and Explanation of Socially Constructed Childhood, along with 13 great examples to use in your essay on sociology of childhood.

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You may know what family values are and even know the different types of family structures, but defining your family culture is a little more complex. A family culture is basically defined as the set of customs and morals your family subscribes to, but it's also much more than that.

Definition of Family Culture

Family culture can relate to just your immediate family or be representative of your extended family and ancestors. To understand the definition of family culture, it's best to break apart these two words.

One broad definition of family is "a social group in society consisting of people related to each other by various means."

The definition of culture is "a particular set of customs, morals, codes and traditions from a specific time and place."

Put these words together and the definition of family culture is "a particular set of customs, morals, codes, and traditions shared by a social group of related people."

Related Articles

Characteristics of a Family Culture

Each family culture is as unique as the family who exemplifies it. While it's impossible to define uniform characteristics of a family culture, there are some things that typically make up family culture.

Unspoken - Families don't often discuss their culture, they just know what's expected and accepted.

Elder Expectations - Older generations have a high expectation that younger generations will keep the same values, customs, and overall family culture.

Reciprocal Relationships - All family members are held to the same standard and expected to reciprocate what's given to them or how they are treated.

Types of Family Cultures With Examples

In 2012, the University of Virginia completed a longitudinal study and identified four types of family cultures common in America. Each type of family culture is almost equally represented by American families from all walks of life, with roughly 20%-25% of families identifying with each type.

Faithful Family Culture

These families take their cues from church or religious communities, including Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.

They are defined by a strong moral compass that requires all members to have a powerful sense of right and wrong as defined by their belief system.

Individual happiness and success is not as important as reflecting your God's purpose.

An example would be a traditional Arab family where grandparents are always consulted for big decisions like marriage because the Koran says the elderly are esteemed.

Engaged Progressive Family Culture

This type of family culture is all about personal responsibility and personal freedom.

Family members operate off The Golden Rule and what feels right to each person.

Kids from this type of family culture generally have more freedom at younger ages than other kids.

This type of family culture is the least religious of all four types.

A traditional Brazilian family could be an example of this family culture because personal values are important and people respect and expect honesty from each other.

Detached Family Culture

Detached families don't spend a lot of time together because they generally believe all the bad influences of the world will overshadow their influence.

Low income families are more likely to fall in this category.

This type of family culture includes a hands-off strategy to parenting and relationships where the belief is that whatever will be, will be.

Parents who don't keep tabs on their child's grades or school work and families that only eat together when they're watching TV are examples of detached family cultures.

American Dreamer Family Culture

American dreamer family cultures are the most common in the U.S., but only slightly more common than all the others.

This type of family culture features an optimistic attitude about the abilities of and opportunities for individual members.

These families have very close relationships where parents pour all their energy into helping their kids succeed in life and avoid as many negative social influences as possible.

A family where both parents attend every practice and game for their son's basketball team would be an example of American Dreamers.

Importance and Impact of Family Culture

Family culture influences the way each family member thinks, feels, and acts on a daily basis. Your family culture influences things like your moral compass, beliefs, values, and traditions. You might choose a career based on your family culture by picking something you know your family values. You might get really upset if your spouse doesn't get you a birthday gift because your family culture made a big deal out of each person's birthday. From big life choices and actions to small details, family culture is important because it is a big part of what makes you, you.

How to Determine Family Culture

Determining what type of family culture you're from could be simple or seem impossible. The trick is to look at similarities between the lives of the majority of your family members. Do many of you work in the same occupational field? Do you have certain family obligations that can never be missed? Do many of you act the same way when you're happy, sad, or angry? Do you view certain groups of people in an overly negative or positive way? These similarities in values, beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and customs make up your family culture.

Define Your Family Culture

A healthy family culture highlights the importance of family values that are shared amongst the group. Those who veer away from the family culture may encounter culture and family issues. Families are influenced by all kinds of factors, so you'll find different family cultures around the world.

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What Is a Family Culture? Definition and Examples | LoveToKnow

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You may know what family values are and even know the different types of family structures, but defining your family culture is a little more complex. A family culture is basically defined as the set of customs and morals your family subscribes to, but it's also much more than that.

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Gingerbread

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An overview of who single parents are today and what issues disproportionately affect single parent families.

Single parents today

In the UK:

There are around 1.8 million single parents - they make up nearly a quarter of families with dependent children (i)

Less than one per cent of single parents are teenagers (ii)

Around 90 per cent of single parents are women (iii)

The average age of a single parent is 39 years (iv)

Then and now

The proportion of families with children headed by single parents has remained at around 25 per cent for over a decade. The current figure is 22.7 per cent (v)

The proportion of single parents who are fathers has stayed at around 10 per cent for over ten years (vi)

Find out more

Who are single parents?

Around 90 per cent of single parents are women; the proportion who are men has remained at around 10 per cent for over a decade (i)

Less than one per cent of single parents are teenagers (aged 16-19 years) (ii)

The average age of a single parent is around 39 years; single mothers tend to be younger than single fathers on average (38 years compared with 45 years old, respectively) (iii)

Slightly less than half - 44 per cent - of single parents had their children within marriage; that is, they are married/in a civil partnership, separated, divorced or a surviving partner (iv)

Single fathers are more than three times as likely to be widowed than single mothers (7 per cent compared with 2 per cent) (v)

21 per cent of single parents are from a Black or minority ethnic background (including those of other White origin, apart from White British), compared with 16 per cent nationally (vi)

28 per cent of single parents have a disability, compared with 14 per cent of couple parents (vii)

References

i. ONS (2019) Families and households. Table 1.

ii. Gingerbread analysis of Labour Force Survey (January-March 2019).

iii. See ii.

iv. See ii.

v. See ii.

vi. ONS (2013) Census 2011, Table DC1201EW.

vii. See ii.

Single parent families

Single parent families make up nearly a quarter of families with dependent children (i)

The proportion of families headed by single parents increased during the 1970s to 1990s, but has remained largely the same since 2001 (ii)

Just under 3 million children live in single parent families, which is 21 per cent of all children in families; this proportion has remained around the same for over a decade (iii)

55 per cent of single parent families have one child; 32.1 per cent have two children and 13 per cent have three or more children (iv)

On average, single parenthood lasts around five years (v)

References

i. ONS (2019) Families and households. Table 1.

ii. Gingerbread (2018) One in four: a profile of single parents in the UK.

iii. See i, Table 3.

iv. See iii.

v. Skew, A., et al. (2008) Leaving lone parenthood: Analysis of the repartnering patterns of lone mothers in the UK.

The impact of single parenthood

Research shows that marital status in itself has little causal impact on child outcomes, with differences more likely to be explained by 'selection effect' (ie the difference between the types of people who choose to get married and those that choose to cohabit) (i)

On average, children who experience single parenthood during their childhood have poorer cognitive outcomes than those that grow up in families that remain "intact". However, research shows that family structure in itself has little effect on children's cognitive and emotional outcomes once other factors such as parental education are taken into account (ii).This pattern is confirmed by more recent analysis of the Millenium Cohort Study, focusing on health, cognitive and behavioural outcomes at ages 5, 7 and 11 (iii)

Recent research focusing on life satisfaction, relationships with peers and feelings about family life found these to be more positive for those children who were, or had been, part of a single parent family (iv)

There is no robust estimation on the cost of 'relationship breakdown'; the only existing attempts to estimate this are strongly limited - in particular, they do not confine costs to the causal impact of separation and associated costs are largely without an evidence base (v)

References

i. Crawford, C. et al (2013) Cohabitation, marriage, relationship stability and child outcomes: Final report. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.
ii. Harkness, S. (2014)Time to shift the policy spotlight off single parents. Society Central.
iii. LSE Enterprise (2017)Children's wellbeing and development outcomes for ages 5, 7 and 11, and their predictors.
iv. Rabindrakumar, S. (2017)Family portrait: single parent families and transition over time.
v. Rabindrakumar, S. (2015)Challenging the costs of relationship breakdown. London: Gingerbread.

References for Single Parents Today and Then and Now

i. ONS (2019) Families and households. Table 1.
ii. Gingerbread analysis of Labour Force Survey (January-March 2019).
iii. See reference i.
iv. See reference ii.
v. See reference i.
vi. See reference i.
Statistics last updated September 2019

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Single parents: facts and figures - Gingerbread

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Skip to content An overview of who single parents are today and what issues disproportionately affect single parent families.

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Marxist perspective   -        Ideological functions of the family  

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Marxist perspective   -        Ideological functions of the family  

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what positives and negatives can you list from observing the short film of family life

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How to Have a Family Dinner_ A Date with Your Family (1950)

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ONS.GOV.UK - Statistics on family diversity 

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ONS.GOV.UK - Statistics on family diversity 

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In 2019, there were 19.2 million families, an increase of 0.4% on the previous year, with a 6.8% increase over the decade from 2009 to 2019.

The number of households grew by 0.9% since the previous year to 27.8 million in 2019, an increase of 6.8% over the last 10 years.

Married or civil partner couples remain the most common family type in 2019, they represent two-thirds of families in the UK; Northern Ireland (72.6%) has the highest proportion of married or civil partner couples and the lowest proportion of cohabiting couples (9.4%).

There were 2.9 million lone parent families in 2019, which is 14.9% of families in the UK; London has the highest proportion (19.1%), while the South West of England (10.9%) has the lowest.

The number of people living alone has increased by a fifth over the last 20 years, driven mainly by increases in men aged 45 to 64 years living alone; Scotland has the highest proportion of one-person households at 35.0%, while London has the lowest (23.9%).

Households containing multiple families (which represents 1.1% of all households) were the fastest growing type of household over the last two decades, having increased by three-quarters to 297,000 households in 2019.

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2. Things you need to know about this release

The 2018 release of Families and Households in the UK was published on 7 August 2019. It was delayed as a result of the re-weighting of the Labour Force Survey back to 2012. This release adds the 2019 estimates to the previously published 1996 to 2018 dataset, bringing the publication back in line with the annual schedule. For additional analysis on the UK level, Families and households in the UK: 2018 can be referred to.

A family is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent, with at least one child, who live at the same address. Children may be dependent or non-dependent.

Dependent children are those aged under 16 years living with at least one parent, or aged 16 to 18 years in full-time education, excluding all children who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household.

Non-dependent children are those living with their parent(s), and either aged 19 years or over, or aged 16 to 18 years who are not in full-time education or who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household. Non-dependent children are sometimes called adult children.

A household is one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room or dining area. A household can consist of a single family, more than one family, or no families in the case of a group of unrelated people.

Families and household statistics explained provides further information on the complexities around the definitions and how these relate to situations people might be experiencing. There have recently been legislative changes to marriages and civil partnerships in the UK that will affect future statistics on families and households. Further details of these changes and when they come into effect are also provided in Families and household statistics explained.

If a change or a difference between estimates is described as "statistically significant", it means that statistical tests have been carried out to reject the possibility that the change has occurred by chance. Therefore, statistically significant changes are very likely to reflect real changes in families and household structures.

Measures of quality (to show the levels of uncertainty associated with survey estimates) are presented in the datasets. Users are advised to consult the quality measures when interpreting the estimates.

This release contains analysis by UK country and English region for the first time. We encourage users to feed back on whether this additional analysis meets their needs by emailing pop.info@ons.gov.uk. The published region datasets can be found here.
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3. Northern Ireland had the highest proportion of married or civil partner couples and the lowest proportion of cohabiting couples in 2019

In 2019, there were 19.2 million families in the UK, a statistically significant increase of 6.8% over the last decade. The number of families has grown by 0.4% (81,100) since the previous year.

Married and civil partner couple families remained the most common family type in 2019, representing two-thirds of all families (12.8 million). Cohabiting couple families were the second-largest family type at 3.5 million (18.4%), followed by 2.9 million (14.9%) lone parent families.

In the UK over the last 10 years, the proportion of families containing a married or civil partnered couple decreased from 68.6% in 2009 to 66.8% in 2019. Conversely the proportion of families containing a cohabiting couple increased from 15.3% to 18.4%. This reflects the declining trend seen in the proportion of the population who are married and an increasing trend in the proportion cohabiting.

In 2019, the highest proportion of married or civil partner couple families were in Northern Ireland (72.6%) and the South East of England (72.2%). The average for the UK was 66.8% (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Married or civil partner couples were the most common family type in 2019

Percentage of families by family type in each region of England and UK constituent countries

Source: Office for National Statistics - Labour Force Survey

Notes:

1. Married couple families include both opposite-sex and same-sex married couples.

2. Cohabiting couple families include both opposite-sex and same-sex cohabiting couples.

3. Percentages may not sum to 100% because of rounding.

Download this chart

Northern Ireland had the lowest proportion of cohabiting couple families in 2019 at 9.4% (49,500), while the average for the UK was 18.4%. Over the five years up to 2019, the South West (16.7% in 2014 to 20.6% in 2019) and the North West of England (17.2% to 20.5%) saw the largest increases in the proportion of cohabiting couple families.
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4. Same-sex married couples are the fastest growing type of same-sex family

In 2019 there were 212,000 same-sex families in the UK, having increased by 40.0% since 2015. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalized same-sex marriage in England and Wales from 13 March 2014 and from 16 December 2014 in Scotland.

Same-sex cohabiting couples remain the most common type of same-sex couple family, accounting for just over half of same-sex families in 2019. However, the proportion of same-sex cohabiting couples has decreased from 59.6% in 2015 to 51.6% in 2019, driven by the growing number of same-sex married couple families (Figure 2). It should be noted these analyses are based on small numbers therefore estimates are more prone to greater annual fluctuation.

Families and household statistics explained provides further information on the legislative changes to marriages and civil partnerships in the UK, which will affect future statistics on families and households.

Figure 2: Same-sex cohabiting couples remain the most common type of same-sex families

Change in same-sex couple family distributions, UK, 2015 to 2019

Source: Office for National Statistics - Labour Force Survey

Notes:

Percentages may not sum to 100% because of rounding.

Download this chart

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5. London had the highest proportion of lone parent families in the UK in 2019

In 2019, 14.9% of the families in the UK were lone parent families (2.9 million). Over the last 10 years this number has not changed significantly, but between 1999 and 2019 there has been a statistically significant increase of 14.5%.

Lone parent mothers remained the most common type of lone parents in 2019, accounting for 86% of this family type. However, from 1999 to 2019 the number of lone parent fathers has grown by 22%, while the number of lone parent mothers also increased but at a slower rate (13.4%). These increases are both statistically significant (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The number of lone parent fathers has grown at a faster rate than lone parent mothers between 1999 and 2019

Number of lone parent families by sex, UK, 1999 to 2019

Source: Office for National Statistics - Labour Force Survey

Download this chart

Over the last decade to 2019, the number of lone parents with non-dependent children has increased by 17.5%, while the number of lone parents with dependent children has decreased by 9.8%. These changes are both statistically significant.

Reasons for the decrease in lone parent families with dependents may include:

While the increase in lone parents with non-dependent children is likely to be partly driven by the ageing of children who previously were dependents in lone parent families, it could also be as a result of increases in separation at older ages as well as an increasing trend of young adults living with parents.

London contained the largest proportion of lone parent families compared with the other regions in the UK in 2019 (19.1%), followed by Northern Ireland (18.0%), the North East (17.8%) and North West of England (16.7%). Regions in the South of England had the lowest proportion of lone parent families (around 11%), see Figure 1.

Over the last five years, Wales experienced the largest change in the proportion of lone parent families compared with the other regions in the UK. There was a statistically significant decrease of 15.8% from 156,000 in 2014 to 131,000 families in 2019.
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6. In 2019, there were 8.2 million people living alone

In 2019, the number of households in the UK grew by 249,000 (0.9%) from the previous year to 27.8 million. This increase was statistically significant.

The number of people living alone has increased by a fifth over the last 20 years, from 6.8 million in 1999 to 8.2 million in 2019, a statistically significant increase. The majority of this increase is driven by the growth in the numbers of men living alone (72.1%), predominantly aged 45 to 64 years. This could be because of the following:

higher proportions of men than women never marry

men tend to marry at older ages than women and marry women younger than themselves

partnership dissolution, leading to men living alone while women may live with any children from the relationship

More information on the characteristics of those people living alone can be found in our article The cost of living alone.

London contained the lowest proportion of one-person households compared with the other UK regions in 2019. Fewer than one-quarter of households in London contained somebody living alone compared with the UK average of 29.5%. In contrast, Scotland had the highest proportion of one-person households at 35.0%. This may reflect regional differences in housing affordability.

Figure 4: London had the lowest proportion of one-person households in 2019
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Over the last five years, the South West of England (23.2%), Northern Ireland (22.5%) and Wales (22.1%) experienced the largest increases in the number of one-person households. These increases were statistically significant.

Of all one-person households in the UK, just under half (49.1%) contained somebody aged 65 years and over. London had the lowest proportion aged 65 years and over at 38.3%, compared with other regions in the UK. While the highest proportions of one-person households aged 65 years and over were in the West Midlands (54.7%) and the South West of England (54.6%).
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7. Multi-family households are the fastest growing household type in the UK, but currently represent the smallest share of households

Multi-family households (consisting of two or more families) were the fastest growing household type over the last two decades to 2019. They grew by three-quarters from 170,000 in 1999 to 297,000 households in 2019, a statistically significant increase. However, they represented a very small proportion of all household types in 2019 (1.1%), see Figure 5.

Families in these households may be unrelated, for example two couples house-sharing alone or one or more couples with other adults, or may be related in some way, for example, a couple with their child and their partner.

The growth in the number of multi-family households could reflect a growth in multigenerational families choosing to live together, or out of necessity because of reasons such as housing affordability, childcare responsibilities and caring for older relatives.

Figure 5: Couple households remain the most common household type in 2019

Percentage of households, by household type, UK, 2019

Source: Office for National Statistics - Labour Force Survey

Download this chart

London contained the highest proportion of multi-family households (2.0%), compared with the rest of the UK. Over the last five years up to 2019, the North East of England showed the largest decrease in multi-family households (0.8% to 0.2% in 2019), while the North West showed the largest increase (0.9% to 1.5% in 2019) in this household type.
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8. London had the largest proportion of households made up of two or more unrelated adults in 2019

There were 787,000 households made up of two or more unrelated adults in 2019, which represents a small proportion (2.8%) of all household types (Figure 6). The number of these households has not changed significantly in the last 20 years.

These households do not contain a couple or a parent living with their child, but typically are groups of friends or students, but can also include two siblings for example.

London contained the highest proportion of two or more unrelated adult households compared to the rest of the UK in 2019, at 6.2% (206,000) compared with the UK average of 2.8%. The South East of England showed a statistically significant decrease of 25.1% in the five years up to 2019, falling from 99,000 to 74,000 in 2019.

Figure 6: London had double the proportion of households containing two or more unrelated adults than the rest of the regions in the UK

Percentage of households containing two or more unrelated adults for regions and constituent countries of the UK, 2019

Source: Office for National Statistics - Labour Force Survey

Download this chart

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9. The majority of families with dependent children were married or civil partner couples

Over the last decade the number of families with dependent children has increased by 4.1%, while the number of families with non-dependent children only has grown more than twice as fast. These both represent statistically significant increases. This reflects the fact fewer people are having children and those that do tend to have fewer children than in the past.

In 2019, married and civil partner couple families accounted for the largest share of families with dependent children (61.4%), followed by lone parent families (22.3%) and cohabiting couples (16.3%).

Between 2009 and 2019, the number of cohabiting couple families with dependent children has increased by more than a quarter. The number of married or civil partner couples with dependent children has increased by 4.8%, and lone parents with dependent children has decreased by 9.8%. These changes are statistically significant.

London contained the highest proportion of families with dependent children in 2019; accounting for half of all families in London, compared with the UK average of 42.0%. Over the last five years the number of families with dependent children in London increased by 9.5% to 1.2 million in 2019, which is statistically significant.

Figure 7: The South West of England and Scotland had the lowest proportions of households with dependent children
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Over the last two decades there has been a 46.3% increase in the number of young people aged 20 to 34 years (non-dependent children) living with their parents, increasing from 2.4 million in 1999 to 3.5 million in 2019. This is equivalent to more than a quarter of young adults of the same age group living with parents in 2019. This number has not changed significantly since 2018.

Larger numbers of young adults tending to stay at home for longer may be explained by staying in education and training for longer, formalising relationships and having children at older ages, and increased costs in renting or buying a home. This is explored further in our article Why are more young people living with their parents?
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11. Quality and methodology

The Families and households Quality and Methodology Information report contains important information to help you:

understand the strengths and limitations of the data

learn about existing uses and users of the data

reduce the risk of misusing data

to decide suitable uses for the data

understand the methods used to create the data

It should be noted that the definition of a lone parent does not make any distinction between situations where a child has regular contact and/or partly resides with their other parent and a child who solely resides with and is cared for by one parent.

We publish family and household estimates for the UK and region level. Requests for additional data or data for alternative geographies can be made by emailing pop.info@ons.gov.uk or by calling +44 (0)1329 44 4661. Please note requests for additional data are likely to be charged in line with our charging policy.

The revisions policy for population statistics is available.

Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the UK Statistics Authority website.
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Families and households in the UK - Office for National Statistics

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Trends in living arrangements including families (with and without dependent children), people living alone and people in shared accommodation, broken down by size and type of household.

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How have our Norms & Values changed over time in society ? How has this impacted family diversity ? 

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Norms and Values - what does that mean ? 

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Norms and Values - what does that mean ? 

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How can you support that secularisation may have impacted family diversity ? What evidence is there to support or refute this ?

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Secularisation - Could this have led to a decline in marriage and the rise in divorce ? why ? 

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Secularisation - Could this have led to a decline in marriage and the rise in divorce ? why ? 

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Family types - Can you find some of your own to focus on ?  Research other family types 

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Family types - Can you find some of your own to focus on ?  Research other family types 

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Feminist perspective March of progress - Women rights 

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Feminist perspective March of progress - Women rights 

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Research the differences between radical and liberal feminists perspective on the family

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Ann Oakley - Research other feminist opinions on women's role within the family & gender equality 

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Ann Oakley - Research other feminist opinions on women's role within the family & gender equality 

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Family is an important agency of social control. On the one hand it socialises an individual and on the other it trains him about social behaviour

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Evaluating feminist views on the family 

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Evaluating feminist views on the family 

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Feminists, such as Ann Oakley, agree with Marxists and functionalists that the family is essentially a conservative institution that preserves the social order. They disagree with functionalists and agree with Marxists that in doing so it benefits only a powerful group within society. For feminists, this group is men. They argue that families preserve, support and embed patriarchy.

Liberal feminism and family

Liberal feminists focus on striving for legal equality between the sexes. The family has long been a clear source of inequality. Marital rape was not formally recognised as a crime in the UK until 1991 (because of the notion that marriage gave a man "conjugal rights" that could not be withdrawn save through annulment or divorce). Divorce laws have been reformed on many occasions to make them more equal, but it used to be much easier for a man to get a divorce than a woman (see a later section), etc. Liberal feminists argue that most of those battles for legal equality have been won, however there is clearly still inequality between the sexes (for example, in relation to domestic work - see a later section). They put this down to the need to also change cultural values in society.

As such, while families currently play a part in the oppression of women, they do not have to: it is possible to have family life and gender equality.

Radical feminism and family

Radical feminists do not believe that changing the law will ever be enough, on its own, to end the oppression and subjugation of women. They argue that men will always oppress women and the family is a vehicle for that oppression. As such women should find alternative ways of living where they are not subject to male oppression. This has led some radical feminists to favour gender separatism.

Radical feminists argue that girls are socialised (not least through families) to believe that oppression and inequality are normal and therefore they accept the inequality of family life: indeed they dream of it and work for it.

Marxist feminism and family

Marxist feminists argue that families help to preserve both capitalism and patriarchy, and that the two work hand in hand. They point out that the capitalist system gets the benefit of unpaid female work as their workforce (and the next generation) are fed, looked after and kept happy to ensure they keep working hard and making profits for the bosses.

Evaluating feminist views on the functions of families and households

As with Marxism, feminists may paint too negative and gloomy a picture. While some families may be unequal and male-dominated, there may well be families that are much more equal.

Some criticise feminists - especially radical feminists - for presenting women as too passive. Postmodern feminists, for example, would point to how women do not have to accept patriarchy or inequality, and do not have to make a choice between family life and equality: they can take the initiative and resist oppression and assert their own power.

Again, some of these ideas are criticised for being out of date: most women work now, and so the nature of family life has inevitably changed in response to this. As we shall see, not all feminists agree that it has necessarily changed for the better.

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Feminists, such as Ann Oakley, agree with Marxists and functionalists that the family is essentially a conservative institution that preserves the social order. They disagree with functionalists and agree with Marxists that in doing so it benefits only a powerful group within society. For feminists, this group is men.

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Charles Murray said that the welfare and benefits are too readily available and too high & create a culture of dependency in society.

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The New Rights perspective on the family 

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The New Rights perspective on the family 

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Radical Feminist view on the family - video 

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Radical Feminist view on the family - video 

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Feminist View on the Family (Sociology) A Level

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Functionalist Talcott Parsons - Warm Bath Theory 

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Functionalist Talcott Parsons - Warm Bath Theory 

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The functionalist perspective on the family 

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The functionalist perspective on the family 

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Family Diversity Quzlet - Great for revision 

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Family Diversity Quzlet - Great for revision 

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The Rapoports suggested there are 5 types of family diversity 

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The Rapoports suggested there are 5 types of family diversity 

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Talcott Parsons - Functional fit theory 

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Talcott Parsons - Functional fit theory 

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The functional fit theory .... Can you find any weaknesses in the sociological theories/ perspectives ?

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This image is perfect to help you remember how the Marxist perspective views family

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Extracts from this document...

Introduction

﻿Examine the ways in which government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity Social policy refers to the actions of government agencies, like the welfare system. They are usually based on laws that provide the framework within which these agencies operate. Most policies affect families in one way or another, as some are aimed directly at families, while others aren?t but still have an effect on them. There have been many social policies introduced, such as the Soviet government?s attempt to destroy the pre-revolutionary patriarchal family structure by making divorce and abortion easy to obtain, allowing women to enter paid employment and providing workplace and communal nurseries. This meant that women would not have to carry out Parson?s idea of an expressive role. Instead, women were seen as more equal to men and they were liberated in the sense that they weren?t just there to produce children and look after the home. They also had the opportunity to leave the marriage much more easily, creating more single-parent families. ...read more.

Middle

Because women are pressured into undergoing sterilisation, they are not given the chance to make their own decisions, increasing the inequality between men and women. Those who have to pay fines are probably providing services for those who comply with the government?s policy, which means that they become the privileged in society, leaving other to struggle to provide for their own families. Because of the nature of democracy, government policy has adapted to consider the growth and physical stability of the family. During the 20th century, the health and life expectancy of people living in the United States improved dramatically. Since 1900, the average lifespan of people in the United States has lengthened by greater than 30 years; 25 years of this gain are attributable to advances in public health. This means that people will be able to work longer and have more children, adding to the number of people who are able to pay taxes that will provide more public services. ...read more.

Conclusion

Familistic gender regimes base their family policies on the assumption that the husband works to support the family while the wife stays at home and does domestic work. They also discourage diversity. For example, in Greece there isn?t much state welfare so women have to rely on relatives for childcare, so it is likely that they would stay at home while their husband goes to work and provides an income. Individualistic gender regimes encourage diversity because they base their family policies on the belief that husband and wife should be treated equally. Because women are not seen to be financially dependent on men, both spouses are entitled to separate state benefits. For example, in Sweden, both the wife and husband are expected to provide financially and do domestic work, so childcare, parental leave and welfare services allow women to be more independent on men and have more employment opportunities. In conclusion, government policies often shape society and they can have ill effects. Countries that are more relaxed will tend to have individualistic family regimes and therefore believe that diversity is good, whereas strict countries will be against diversity as they feel it would do harm to their society. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Family & Marriage section.

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Examine the ways in which government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity - A-Level Sociology - Marked by Teachers.com

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Extracts from this document... Introduction ﻿Examine the ways in which government policies and laws may affect the nature and extent of family diversity Social policy refers to the actions of government agencies, like the welfare system. They are usually based on laws that provide the framework within which these agencies operate.

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quiz on social policy and its impact on the family 

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quiz on social policy and its impact on the family 

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Childhood | Child-Centred Society | A Level Sociology - Families