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Chapter Fifteen

Social Change and Families

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Two Fundamental Changes

Lessened Economic Dependence of Women

The Weakening of Marriage

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Decline of homemaker role Return to economic

independence

The Lessened Economic Dependence of Women

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90% of whites and 67% of African American eventually marry

Marriage is still preferred form of union Cohabitation is common and

acceptable to most Marriage is less economically

necessary -viewed more as personal self-fulfillment

Less important than kin ties in African-American community

The Weakening of Marriage

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Emergence of Created Kinship Decline of lifelong marriage as the

organizing principle of families has led to an important change in the nature of kinship Kin is being chosen from pools of

eligibles– friends, stepfamilies

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Defined outside boundaries of marriage

Based on what people do for one another - not family tree

Create a support network of family and friends

Choosing One’s Kin

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Choosing One’s Kin

Created kinships can present challenges = need continual attention to maintain

Without the support of social norms, legal obligations or biological self-interest, created kinship ties must be kept active

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Feminization of Kinship

Women do more to keep kinship ties As marriage becomes less stable and

kinship networks remain women’s work, men will find themselves without adequate support from kin

More impact on men later in life, particularly when needing care in old age

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Social Change and the Public Family: The Elderly Well-being and lifespan improved Most will know grandchildren

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Changes in the well-being of the elderly represents success for social policy and family caregiving With social support (Social Security)

and better health they can live independently from their children

A Success Story

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Although improvements have been made in well-being of elderly what will the effects of the Baby Boomer generation?

The Calm Before the Storm

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When they hit elderly - what types of changes might there be?

Unmarried women Possible rise in Social Security taxes -

more elderly than those who support them Lessened benefits to well-to-do elderly

Having fewer children- less children to share caregiving burden

More women working- less available to give care

The Calm Before the Storm

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Social Change and the Public Family: Children

Many indicators suggest that the well-being of children has declined

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The non-poor: children in the shrinking middle, neither poor nor privileged Effects of divorce, cohabitation, and

remarriage Mothers working outside of the home

The Non-poor

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The Poor

Dramatic increase in children living with one parent Consequences of low income in a

single-parent home More difficulty monitoring and

controlling the behavior of their teenage children, regardless of income

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What To Do?

More public support for single-parent and alternative forms of family Do not want to make so attractive

as to lessen numbers of two-parent families

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Advocates believe that this family form provides a superior setting for raising children Children need both mothers and

fathers Key policy to promote marriage and

reduce the number of children born to unmarried women

Encouraging Two-Parent Families

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Advocates believe in supporting single-parent families They will continue to increase in

numbers due to broad economic and cultural trends

Assistance to low-income single parents and their children

Assisting Single-Parent Families

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Women into the workforce Decline in earning power of men

without college degreesLess attractive as marriage partners

Increasing individualismDivorce rate doubled

Welfare reform Earned Income Tax Credit

Assisting Single-Parent Families

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Assisting All Families Almost all Western nations provide more

financial assistance to families than the U.S. One of the reasons that the US has such a

high percentage of children who are poor National health insurance system would

would have been major antipoverty measure for children Introduced in 1994, but Congress did not

enact 11 million children, not covered by health

insurance

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Assisting All Families People’s view of children also

changed in 20th century Children seen less as laborers and

more as fragile beings in need of care State and helping professions began

to intervene between parent and child May have reduced the privacy of the

family Compulsory school laws

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The Deregulation of Intimate Unions Legal restrictions on marriage

weakened considerably Marriage has become an individual decision Basic personal right, not a socially approved

way of transferring land and property or wealth to descendents

Blurring of legal and social boundaries between married and unmarried persons

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Increasingly private and self-fulfillment emphasis on marriage and cohabitation Less support for neighborhoods,

church groups and communities Standard of living high, so people

can focus on personal well-being

Excessive Individualism?

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Individualism can be judged a problem only if it interferes with important social functions Parents obligation for tending to the

well-being of their children Changes appear to be detrimental to the

well-being of children Instability of family relationships, living

arrangements

Excessive Individualism?

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Individualism not responsible for all the increase in divorce, single-parent families and problems of children

Economic causes: Manufacturing business left the country

and resulted in deterioration of young people’s labor market prospects

Growth of the service sector of the economy and jobs available to women

Excessive Individualism?

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Greater stability and security of marriage achieved at the cost of restricting women’s lives more than men’s Breadwinner-homemaker norm left

wives dependent on husbands

Sharing the Cost of Stability

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New bargain between men and women Provide them both with a greater sense

of security in relationships More stability in their children’s lives Is it possible? Women still have double burden of

work and housework Marriage may be less attractive

Sharing the Cost of Stability

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Sharing the Cost of Stability Men who wish for a second earner

may need to do more work around the house and with the children

Married men are more likely to do this if they value marital stability and living with children every day

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Likely to be little decline in divorce rates Too many alternatives acceptable to

marriage if both husband and wife are working

Sharing the Cost of Stability

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Summing Up The family as an institution was

designed for operating in scarcity Now being asked to perform in times

of greater prosperity Historically, men have dominated

the family Contemporary challenge is for them

to share the burdens as well as the power and authority equitably

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Historically, the family was designed to raise many children so that some would survive to adulthood Fewer children today, and sustained

periods in a marriage without children Strengths of the family still include

the continuing desires of most adults to experience lasting bonds of intimacy and affection and to have children

Summing Up

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Summing Up

The family as an institution has demonstrated an ability to assume a diversity of forms in different cultures and in different eras