The Decline of Family in Modern Britain Essay -- Sociology, Family Val

The Decline of Family in Modern Britain Family- â€Å"a group of people who are related to each other such as a mother, a father and their children â€Å"(Cambridge Dictionaries Online, Cambridge University Press (2008)), Is this the view of a family in 2008, clearly it could be said that this definition is somewhat outdated but does it point to the family being in decline? In Britain today the family has certainly undergone a lot of changes compared to the 1950s where the family was predominately a nuclear family where the man of the household went out to work and the woman stayed at home to cook, clean and look after the children. Today there are a number of ‘new’ structures to a family such as single parent families, reconstituted families and same sex families all of which consider they to be what constitutes a family. But how did these ‘new’ structures come about, to answer this we have to look at the changes the family has undergone in recent years. Divorce is a big influence on the structure of a family as it is today. Divorce is easier to obtain than in previous years with the introduction in 1971 of the Divorce Reform Act that established irretrievable breakdown of marriage as grounds for divorce. Another act was passed in 1984 that allowed married couples to divorce after one year of marriage that ultimately increased the number of divorces. Legal aid is now more accessible and ends in most cases the expense of a divorce. Divorce is also far less stigmatised than previously where the likelihood of knowing someone who is divorced as opposed to not knowing anyone (as in previous years) is rare and on the whole accepte... ...ly has its own structure dependant on who you are and as long as it functions to the best of its ability, it is about change ‘with the times’ rather than decline. Bibliography ------------ Moore, S., Chapman, S. and Aiken, D. (2001) Sociology for AS-Level, Families and Households Topic 2 (1-6): 36-55, London: Collins. New Right and Changes in the Family (Class Handout 07.10.04) Changing Patterns of Marriage and Divorce (Class Handout 21.10.04) Contemporary Changes in the Family (Class Handout 08.10.04) Cambridge Dictionaries Online (accessed 24.10.04) Available: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/results.asp?searchword=family S-cool Student Site As & A2 Level Sociology Family Ideology-Introduction, Type of Family, Diversity and A View from 1950 (accessed 21.10.04) Available: http://www.s-cool.co.uk