Industry and the Family

We will discuss the relation between industry and family in our society. The family is considered the oldest form of human groups. All institutions today are modified by the family. Institutions are more complicated than families. It will be described how family can cope with situational and environmental changes.

Industrialism was firstly knocked on the door of western civilization which was found a tightly knit feudal society. In feudal family, father ruled his family in a feudal manner. The wife was sub ordinate to her husband and children was a minor part of the family. The family was extended by marriage or by a large number of kinship ties. The relationship was maintained for socio-economic realities. But it was not maintained for long time and shattered . Activities were extended and family kinships were shattered and it paved the way of industrialization.

Industrialism and the Traditional Family

Effects of industrialism on traditional family:1)Industrialism quickly and permanently shattered

the family form.2) It is incompatible with traditional family

relationships.3) It has shattering effects on the extended family.4)It radically changes the physical environment of

the family.So we can say that industrialism has chnged the

form,structure and inner relationship of traditional family.

Industrialism and the Traditional Family

1)The industrial-urban family is not embedded in a matrix of extended kin relationships.

2)The family is based on the conjugal relationship since the family does not rest on ties to property, to location,to land rather its success and failure depends on the capacity of husband and wife.

3)It is marked by a relatively great degree of equality in its roles.

4) The father of this family must adjust his personality to the emotions need of his wife and the wife enjoys a high status in such a family.

5)The role of the child has been drastically altered and it is the object of a lot of parental affection and concern.

The General Form of Industrial- Urban Family

The industry and the family are well connected because family members or persons which are also a part of society run the industry.

Occupation determines class and status and position’s influence on family are being felt.

Certain aspects impacts on industry and society including the formation of family structure, family roles and family disorganization etc.

Industrially Influenced Families and Aspects of Family Living

We have seen that families in our society are formed through the “free choice”of men and women. But this does not mean that the formation of marriages in our society is a matter of chance of physical attraction. On the contrary,it is strongly influenced by social and economic conditions. These conditions set limits within which free choice operates in the selection of marriage mates.

The Formation of Families

Industry helps form the socio economic environment within which marriages are formed.

In the first place, industry has a direct affects in the formation of marriage between men and women in the same occupation or who come from the same occupational levels.For example:Business exexutives marry women whose fathers are also businessman.

In the second place, industry indirectly affects the formation of marriage through the medium of class and status or place i.e:marriages occur between men and women who live within a relatively short distance of each other.

The Formation of Families

Marriages in our society do not occur randomly rather they occur between the twos who work together or who are brought together by their positions in the social structure.

Thus industrialism affects the formation of marriages in our society.

The Formation of Families

The influence of industrialism on families is not confined only to their formation in various direct or indirect ways. Industrialism helps to shape various sub types. Sub types of families occur in relation to regions,religions,ethnic groups,races and some other factors. The sub types which are of interest to us deviate from the “ideal family” in terms of their position in the class and status system which is linked to industrialism.

Status-Class Position and Family Structure

The role of husband in the family is most directly influenced by industry. The husband is a part-time member of the family who must seek to integrate the work he does with the demands of family life. He may fail to achieve integration or he may succeed.If he does succeed it is by dividing himself into a “work” self and a “family” self.

Family Roles of Adult Men

The nature of the integration of these selves differs by occupational levels. They are classified into three levels. Such as:

1) The Position of the Upper class husband of society;

2) The Position of the Middle-class husband; 3)The Position of the working-class husband.Thus occupation and family life are intertwined in

many diverse ways, each status-class position engendering a pattern of peculiar to itself and determining the roles that men play in the family.

Family Roles of Adult Men

The employment of married women seems to be related to two factors:

1)The number and age of children in the family2)The socio economic status of the husband. The income of the female workers is on the

whole inferior to that of men. Women salaries are only 50 or 60 percent that of men. This disparity is also found in the same type of occupational roles within the industries.

Industry and the Role of Married Women

The roles of married women in industry vary from class to class. The classes are as follows:

1)the working class wife;2)the middle- class wife;3)the upper class wife.

Industry and the Role of Married Women

At present the relationship between industrialism and the role of children is almost entirely indirect one. But this situation was different a centuries ago. Then children were directly involved with industrialization. A great portion of children were involved there. But now the situation has been changed with time. The parentage now decreasing day by day. However it can’t be divided from one another. Because each level of society produces a specific type or pattern of role for children.

Childhood and Industry

Some studies have shown that an inverse relationship exists between status-class position and fertility. Families are largest among unskilled workers, lowest among professional and technical families.

Some families of differing socio economic status also show variations in the ages at which the spouses marry. Here there is a direct one. For example: the higher the occupational levels and greater the money income ,the later the age of marriage.

Demographic Deviations

Adolescent means the child who has completed his fourteen years but not nine teen years. Adolescents play a diverse roles in our society because a large group of people are involved with labor force and many adolescents are entering in the workforce. About 27% of all adolescents are in the labor force . On the other hand about 1/3 rd is not in the labor force as they are supported by their parents.

Adolescent Roles and Industrialism

The aged people have an influence in the industrial society. At present, the position of the elderly and the aged has become a vital issue in our society. Because a century ago, the percentage of elderly people was less. But day by day this percentage is increasing gradually . As elderly and aged people have comparatively less ability to do work than that of young generation , the increase of this percentage has a negative effect on industrialism. Because they have less productivity.

The Role of the Aged in Industrial Society

Industry has a certain direct and indirect effects on the disorganization, dissolution of families. Study shows that the rate of divorce in the developed country is increasing day by day due to industrialism.

Industry and Family Disorganization

The extended kin- groups functions to exclude outsiders who might threaten the class.

The extended kin-groups seeks to control choice of marriage mates. It is typical of an upper class that marriage mates are chosen from the same level of society though the number of marriageable individuals is limited.

The extended family may act as an employment agency. Individual family members may be placed in those factories where the family has influence.

Differences in the Extended Family by Status-Class Levels

That’s the End of our Presentation

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