Changing Family Dynamics: Impact & Evolution

2. Children and Change • Psychology-socialization, parenting practices and styles, family disruption, role of media • Sociology-family is affected by social structural and cultural conditions.

3. SINGLE PARENT FAMILY • More prevalent today than ever before • 20% of all families SPT • Historically, SPT the result of death, now divorce=feminization of poverty

4. The Traditional Nuclear Family and New Alternatives legally married  never married singlehood, nonmarital cohabitation with children  voluntary childlessness two-parent  single-parent permanent  divorce, remarriage male primary provider, egalitarian (dual-career) ultimate authority sexually exclusive  extramarital relationships heterosexual  same-sex relationships, households

5. Feminization of Poverty • CAUSES INCLUDE: • DIVORCE-numbers reduced=never married • MASS MEDIA-ideology of romantic love • EDUCATION • AGING POPULATION

6. 2005, Steven Tipton and John Witte Jr. entited, Family Transformed: Religion, Values and Society in American Life • Children from broken homes are 2 to 3 times more likely to have behavioural problems.

7. More than two thirds of juveniles and young adults convicted of major felonies from 1970 to 1995 came from single or no parent homes.

8. Stages in Family Patterns • 1900 –1914 Domestic family • 1914-1918 WW1 –women in factories • 1919-1929 Return to domesticity

9. Mid 20thc to Now • 1929-1939 Depression and survival • 1945-1960 Cult of domesticity Nuclear • 1960-1980 Second Wave Feminism • 1980-1990 New Right vs Third Wave Feminism • 1990-2008-Global economy.

10. Divorce Act of 1986. • The number of dependent children involved in divorce cases is increasing from 20,099 in 1969 to 58,000 in 1975. • Divorce Act of 1986. =456,000…

11. Downward economic movement. • The change from two‑parent to one parent‑family inevitably results in downward economic movement.

12. 90% of single parent families are female‑headed • Since females are the parents who generally inherit the children “it suggests economic hardship for female headed single‑parent families.

13. The Decline in Household Size • The average household size is declining in Canada and this is especially evident with the increase of people living alone. • In 2001, 35 percent of women and 16 percent of men aged 65 and over lived alone.

14. Sandwich Generation • . The 2001 Census shows that 41 percent of young adults aged 20 to 29 lived with their parents, a substantial increase from 27 percent in 1981.

15. . Living at home • Living at home is more likely for young men than women aged 20 to 24 (64 vs. 52 percent) and aged 25 to 29 (29 vs. 19 percent). • This could be called the "adolescentizing" of young adults.

16. Married with Children • ·        Married with children falls short of majority • ·        Legally married with or without children ¾ of all families • ·        Canadian families dispersed along various dimensions • ·        Most Canadians marry at least once • 60% of all between 25-29

17. Common Law Families • 2001, 7.5 percent of families were common-law couples, and 6.3 percent of families were common-law couples with children, up from 3.7 percent and 1.9 percent respectively in 1981

18. Common-law with children • There is an increase in common-law couples with children at home • There is a declining percentage of married couples with children.

19. Same Sex Coupling • A total of 34 200 couples, 0.5 percent of all couples, identified themselves as same-sex in this census. • Macionis Society Updated Second Canadian Edition (p. 324)

20. Civil Marriage Act • On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the approval of the Civil Marriage Act.

21. Future of family • Consequently, the 1960's saw the rise in the feminist movement. • The movement contained leaders in both the intellectual and political spheres who fought predominant ideologies in favour of male domination, traditional sex roles and female passivity. 

22. The future of family • However, as women have moved out in to the workplace and more opportunities have arisen for them • A number of questions have been raised about the future of family relationships between spouses and parents and children

23. Historical Divorce • -Divorce was by mutual consent but with advantages lying with the husband. • -Men ordinarily could not be divorced for adultery but he might be killed for stealing the property of a another man.

24. Divorce • 2. The divorce rate has increased three foldsince the turn of the century, women are more likely to be single because of divorce than death. • 3. Death was the primary cause of single motherhood a century ago.

25. CANADA DIVORCE ACTS • 1900-1968-BRITISH COMMON LAW-sexist-double standards 5 years for divorce • 1968-3 years, a move toward no fault • 1986-CANADA DIVORCE ACT- 1 year separation, 50/50 split

26. DivorceConflict View • 1.   Divorceis a capitalistic enterprise. There is more divorce in areas where capitalism is more intense than anywhere else such as California.

27. Education • Another influencer is education. • Because of the ideology of romantic love, women fail to see education as important in comparison to men.

28. BREADWINNER IDEOLOGY • They are socialized to assume that men will take care of them (BREADWINNER), that they will be the nurturers and the caregivers, that this will be the case until death do us part.

29. Sociology Structural and Interpretive • Structural functional approach to social change-adaptive-systems. • Parsons –Isolated Nuclear Family to Litwak Modified Extended Family, • Dysfunctional family-single parent, gay coupling, weekend marriage, childless couple.. • Feminist debate with Structural Functionalism

30. Interpretive Approaches • Importance of meaning • Interpretive understanding of social processes • Direct study of processes in natural settings • Observation and and interview methods • Difficult to obtain because of Western privacy.

31. Socioeconomic Changes West • From agricultural to industrial to post • From old workplace (crafts, factory and farm) to new workplace (service and sales) • Decline in family size • Rise in Mothers in Labour Force • Result: Increase separation of children from adults and dependence on each other.

32. Ethnicity and race • A final factor in the feminization of poverty is ethnicity and race…If one is a black women, elderly, one is double jeapardy. • In the United States for example, 95% of Black families are female headed.. The husband does not remain in the home, the Black family lives with the legacy of slavery.

33. The ideology of romantic love • Love undefinable feeling,influenced societies for centuries, but it was not the basis of marriage. • Love became more pervasive in this culture, it is said that it should be the foundation for marriage, and is associated with and influenced by capitalism and media.

34. Mass Media • The media feeds on our inadequacies, makes us always feel there is something better. Young girls are socialized to make this central in their lives, traditional ideology has them as the carriers of the relationship. Finding a boyfriend, having a husband and children are central.

35. Romantic love • The ideology of romantic love blurs our perception of what should be critical in our awareness of the realities of relationships…

36. Marriage gradient and the marriage squeeze •   1980’s ….the average age of marriage is 26, the average age of divorce was 36. • Men were more likely to remarry quickly whereas for women it takes some time. • There are factors that influence this including the marriage gradient and the marriage squeeze.

37. In 1971, 12% of lone mothers were divorced and 32% were separated, while 11% of lone fathers were divorced and 39% were separated.

38. At the end of the century, separation or divorce were the most common reasons for lone parenthood.

39. 1999 • One-third of lone mothers were divorced and almost one-quarter were separated, and more than two out of three lone fathers were divorced (40%) or separated (29%).

40. At the end of the twentieth century, the average family income of lone mothers was $24,837. • For • lone-fathers the average was $38,101. Older families with the head aged 65 or older had, on average, • $42,688.