sociology paper

Soci Chapter11

Families- a sociological perspective

-What constitutes a family?

What are its core elements? What do we associate with the word “family”?

What else comes to mind?

-Defining the word “family” can be a contested process

Because of the importance most societies place on the notion of family, how the concept is formally defined can be controversial.

The definition of family shapes not only social conventions, but legal ones as well

By excluding certain groups or arrangements from the definition of family, a society can reinforce moral or religious about what a family should be (the “Normative family”)

When societies adopt new definitions of family, those at the margins can find themselves included/excluded in the new definition (and often subject to legal changes)

-Families through history

Europe and North America

-Early European families: Communal and multi-generational

Pre-modern families were large - usually 4+ children

Usually consisted of a man (head of the household), his wife, as many children as they could support, and often his parents if they were still alive.

Villages and neighbourhoods often included the extended family as well…

-Families in the Industrial Revolution: Working together

No such thing as a “breadwinner” salary (that comes later); both parents worked; kids often worked too

Labour was hard, dangerous, and often deadly

Not uncommon for children to be maimed in the factories

But this soon changed

-Child labour laws changed family structure

Once child labour laws were passed (the Connecticut schooling laws in 1813; minimum age laws in Pennsylvania in 1843)

1802 and 1819 Factory Acts in Britain required children to work no more than 12 hours a day.

Some jurisdictions required that all children have at least some education in their early years, giving rise to the first public school systems

These laws effectively required that a parent or guardian remain at home to watch the children. Guess who that tended to be?

-The”Wired 1950s” and the birth of the “Nuclear family”

This was an ideology as much as it was an historical development

“mom” and “dad” included very specific social/gender roles

Mothers were expected to leave their jobs as soon as they became pregnant- if not as soon as they were married. If they didn’t, their bosses would often simply fire them.

This was less a “natural” development and more an example of social engineering for ideological reasons

-Divorce

Canada and the US introduced no-fault divorce laws in the 1960s

Divorce rates rose sharply after the passage of the law (from 54.8/100000 population in 1968 to 124.2/100000 in 1969). Rates continued to rise throughout the 70s and 80s, but began to decline in the 90s and early 00s.

No-fault divorce didn’t create a “divorce epidemic”; the lack of such laws artificially lowered the rates of divorce.

Though rates of marriage are dropping, rates of cohabitation/ common-law are rising.

-Modern Families (families in 21st century North America)

-Contemporary families look quite a bit different than those that came before Multi-racial, multi-religious (or non-religious), same-sex, polyamorous, common-law and blended

They have also been redefined

The end of “breadwinner” salaries or single incomes; now, most families are at least dual-income

-Blended families (as opposed to “broken families”)

It is now much more common for families to be blended- combining two families from previous relationships into new family units

6.1% of Canadian children in 2016 under the age of 14 live in blended families; 73% live with both biological parents.

The divorce rate in Canada is somewhere between 38%-41% (depending on how you score it). Millennials are less likely to divorce than their parents or grandparents.

-Single-parent households 单亲家庭

Such households remain overwhelmingly female-led

In Canada in 2016, 19.3% of children under the age of 14 live in single-parent homes

Single-parent homes are more common today than they were historically, because now women can earn enough to maintain a family on their own.

-Stay at home fathers (SAHFs)

In 1970, SAHFs accounted for about 1 in 70 stay at home parents in Canada; today it’s about 1 in 10

There has been a dramatic shift in the numbers of men who choose to stay at home since the 1970s.

Directly linked to the increased earning capacity of women& to the existence of gender-neutral parental leave in Canada.

-Yet the distribution of domestic labour remains unequal

Even in “egalitarian” families women often experience an unequal work load, as the division of domestic labour sees them managing most of the “indoor” chores (laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.) while their husbands engage in “outdoor” chores (mowing the lawn, fixing the house,etc.)

-Same-sex and non-binary families

July 20th,2005, same-sex marriage became legal in Canada

Same-sex families tend to be in urban centres where they feel more accepted and supported

In Canada, there are about 72880 same-sex couples. Of those, about 12% have children. Despite legal protections, same-sex couples often face discrimination when attempting to adopt or make use of ART (assisted reproductive technologies) to grow their families.

-Transgender families in Canada

Canada is one of the most trans-friendly countries with regards to rights and freedoms for families

Trans rights are precarious, and many trans folk are forced to fight through the courts to (re)gain access to children.

Transwomen and men often face significant discrimination when making reproductive choices.

These conditions are changing, but the process remains slow.

-So what can we say about modern families, generally speaking?

Built around concepts like teamwork, equal division of labour, and focused on providing a good life for children.

Less focused on maintaining the “stability” of the nuclear family; blended and single-parent families are much more common.

Families are starting later, staying small, and longer projects (children say dependent/ semi-dependent for longer)