Track 26

Track 26

We are all familiar with the nuclear family. which has been the dominant family structure in the UK for the last sixty years at least. However, recent changes show that our idea of the traditional nuclear family as the cornerstone of British family life is changing.

There have been emerging patterns which are eroding this structure; namely. the rise of stepfamilies. cohabitation. lone-parenting, and the rapid increase in those living alone. We are going to explore these areas in turn. and look at their effect in terms of the family.

Firstly, stepfamilies are becoming more and more common. Stepfamilies are created when one or both partners have a child or children from a previous relationship. In 1980 the percentage of children under thirteen who were living with one parent and their new partner was just four percent.

In 2008. this figure had increased to twenty percent. The USA has seen an even greater rise: new statistics show that almost half of under thirteens are living in a stepfamily. Now, we can still call the stepfamily structure a ‘nuclear’ family. as it does follow the structure of two parents. and dependent children.

However. it also creates somewhat of a nuclear ‘blur’. Step-brothers and sisters may belong to two-family units. so where do we draw the line at which family they belong to?

Cohabitation, when partners do not marry yet live together as a family, has also increased. In 2006, of the 17.5 million families in Britain, nearly three million of these comprised unmarried couples. What does this mean to the nuclear family? Firstly, the traditional view of a nuclear family requires married parents.

so we can’t put these types of family under this umbrella. Statistics show that even if cohabiting couples have children, they are more likely to separate than their married equivalents. Lastly. we need to look at the rise of the DINKS, which stands for Dual Income No Kids.

As Clarke and Henwood outline, many cohabiting couples are choosing a life without children, putting consumer spending first.

Lone—parenting is a relatively recent family structure which has rapidly grown in the last half-century. In 1972 only one in fourteen children lived in a lone-parent family. When we compare this with today’s figure of one in four, we can see that this is a rapid increase. In the past, lone parenthood was overwhelmingly the result of a death of a parent. Nowadays, however, it is increasingly a choice.

Some sociologists argue that this increase is due to the outlook of women. Where women once were willing to accept an unhappy or abusive marriage, now many will choose lone—parenthood. Often this can be just a transitory phase before they find a new partner.

This view of women’s attitudes and lone parenting is highly debated because some figures show that the largest group of lone parents are mothers who have never married. You can find counter-arguments for these ideas in Butler and Jones.

One difficulty for single parents is that they are a social group who are much more likely to suffer from poverty and hardship. They are more likely to live in rented accommodation and have childcare issues.

Lastly, an increasing number of people are choosing to live alone. The number of people living alone in Britain has more than doubled in the last twenty years. In 1990 just over four million people lived alone.

Now, this figure has reached 8.5 million, an incredibly rapid growth which has had enormous effects on the traditional nuclear family. This number represents a great chunk of the population who either by choice or necessity, are outside the traditional family unit.

Some think that these changes may not help the community. In fact, there are many arguments that this rise in alternative household structures will create a more isolationist and less community-based society, where close bonds which are usually formed within the family have no place.

Leaving aside whether or not the housing even exists for this boom, an important factor which must be looked at is the disproportionate expense for those living on their own.

By this I mean, the burden of all costs is shouldered by one wage instead of two, and of course one person is using the energy which could be shared between a group, having a greater impact on the environment too.

However, on a more positive note, people, especially women, are proving…