Essay on sociology and the family

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You will refer to statistical evidence when discussing the variety of family and household types. You will be required to reference your work throughout and produce a correct and current bibliography to demonstrate that you have used different sources to obtain your information.

Sociology and the Family

The Nuclear Family generally consists of a Mother, a Father and at least 1 child, this image of a family is thought to of come about at the time of the Industrial Revolution. (Willmott and Young) believe that an increase in the Nuclear Family was the result of the Industrialization. They found that during pre-industrial times, the most common type of family structure, was that of the Extended Family (Extended Family can take …show more content…
Easier Divorce means that people who were already in meaningless relationships, and also people who were previously just separated, may now opt for Divorce, resulting in an higher rate of Lone-Parent Families.

Browne (2008) informs us that one of the major changes in the family, is the increase in the Lone-Parent Family. The percentage has tripled since 1972, a quarter of dependant children now live in these families, whilst this figure stood at just 7% in 1972. South Africa follows a similar pattern, with a large proportion of Lone-parent families, in 2008 this was a substantial 42.8% (Eddy, G, Holborn, L). These numbers can be put to a number of reasons; Women have become a lot more independent and therefore not so reliant on men, Reproduction Technology gives women the opportunity to bear children without the need for a partner, a donor is all that is needed. Also, there is a lot more social acceptance around Lone-Parent Families, meaning that it is not as frowned upon as it once was.

Patricia Morgan (2003) believes that Marriage is decreasing, due to increased cohabitation, declining fertility, an increase in single parenthood, and childbirth outside of marriage. For Example, couples that only choose to live together, rather than get Married, are a lot more likely to separate, than that of Married couples.
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