Abstract
The family structure has changed in the past three decades. The dynamics surrounding the formation of families and household lifestyles have been affected dramatically by the transitions in contemporary societies. Unlike the ancient days where families existed in unison under the marriage bond, more individuals nowadays have children without necessarily being married, couples cohabitation, divorce, and rates of re-marrying have been on the rise. This system has created a leeway for a spike in stepfamilies, distant parents, childless couples, and children without parents. Families now are fluid, having to adapt since lifestyles revolving around households have become increasingly unstable. Questions have been asked on how families are formed nowadays since the events that define the structure of family demography have changed significantly. This paper aims at focusing on family relations to help demographers understand the dynamics behind modern family life in comparison to traditional nuclear settings.
Keywords: transition, multiple residences, stepfamilies, same-sex couples, single-parent families, separation
Introduction
Marriage and families have been essential structures in many communities around the world. Over 50 years ago, the most significant family arrangement was a nuclear family consisting of a married couple raising their children (Parsons, 1959), and this layout was considered the primary family structure in most of the American and European countries. There were clear outlines of what role each member played, primarily based on gender roles. However, over the years, these roles have significantly changed as the average size of the family grew smaller, and society was shaped towards gender equality reforms. Most people are drawn to living alone, as the rate of single parents managing homes has dramatically increased. These changes have come with different shifts in the mindset of people concerning marriage. Trends such as single parenthood, childlessness, divorce, and cohabitation are now on the rise (Thornton & Young-DeMarco, 2001). Marriage is no longer considered as vital in a family union, as it was about five decades back. Thus, people have found other variations to the structure of marriage that can enable them to fit and exist in a society.
The dynamics in the formation of families and households have transformed in the wake of modernity. The layout of life stages as life progresses ha become more unpredictable and more diverse than in the ancient days. Life events now can be projected in neither how they will appear nor how long they will last. More so, forecasting individual life patterns has become heterogeneous since the emergence of “new” lifestyles in households, for instance, same-sex couples and single-parent families. All these changes have significantly deviated from the well-known basic structure of a nuclear family. This paper will provide new definitions surrounding families and households.
1. Understanding the new life course
1.1 Cohabitation is now normal
The rise in cohabitation cases has been one of the reasons the recent years have experienced a change in the family structure. Whereas marriage was the standard way of forming families in the 1960s, a significant number of couples now begin family life without necessarily being married (Festy, 1980; Kiernan, 2004). Cohabitation has become common now in most countries worldwide, and it has been proven that a large proportion of the couples who get a child when cohabiting get married eventually. This does not put cohabiting as an alternative to marriage. It instead shows how the formal structure behind how families emerge has changed, as demonstrated by the normality that has dawned over cohabiting couples with time.
1.2 Variations in the life course is now normal
Every developing country has experienced a change in family structures. Family customs have been diverse. Unlike the traditional nuclear families, more couples live together unmarried, having children outside wedlock and may walk their separate ways after a while. A considerable percentage of married couples now also get divorced and re-marry, bringing about stepfamilies and distant parenting. Other parents are even denied custody of their children in the event of a divorce, while other couples decide to remain childless. Children are also faced with this change as some of them are brought up by same-sex couples or foster parents due to adoption as other children live in foster homes because they cannot live with their biological parents for different reasons. The demographic behavior has experienced these changes, that have become the new normal.
Adapting to this new norm has been affected by several socioeconomic factors since the survival and wellbeing of these households depend on the resources the family has to sustain the family. Roles round the family have now changed since women currently participate more actively in building their careers before settling for marriage. In comparison to prior years, there are a noticeable difference in the economic and social empowerment of women to be independent and shape their self- imagery, and ideologies, without external influence,
2. Events in the “new” family lifestyle
From the moment a baby is born to the moment it dies, major life events occur in the process of its upbringing. These events have also changed from the past to what is experienced now. Their transition from children to adults has become more convoluted.
2.1 Transition to adulthood
The demographic events that characterized one’s transition into adulthood in the traditional days were marked by finishing school, getting a job, and finally leaving home to become independent, and conventionally, start a family. Since days have changed, what marks the transition into adulthood in contemporary society is leaving the parents’ home, graduating by completing university education, getting a job, cohabitation or marrying, and the option of having children. The “traditional” indicators of becoming an independent adult have faded and replaced by the “new” system, which is complicated and without any specific order (Furstenberg 2010). Essentially, the translation is that once a child reaches adulthood, their life choices become specific hallmarks of their ascent into this stage, rather than the societal construes.
2.2 Dissolution of Unions
The dissolution of unions through the ending of a cohabiting relationship or marriage has become a common phenomenon. This dissolution mainly happens through separation or divorce whenever couples find it challenging to agree on how they should live together. The rate at which families get separated has risen to alarming heights of a 50-50 chance that a couple may be separated (Raley and Bumpass 2003). Even though the couples may seem to leave and part ways amicably, there have been devastating effects on the children, who will most likely turn out depressed and detached from the outside world, in comparison to those brought up in a functional household. However, it has become the new normal finding its way in the legal documents in the majority of states and countries worldwide.
2.3 Single Parenthood
An increase in births outside the marital institution and an increase in divorce and separation has caused the numbers of single-parent households to grow. The burden of a single parent increases the risk of the family living in poverty, considering the significantly less output of a single individual, in comparison to two. Such families are inexplicably vulnerable to poverty, especially for single female parents. This is because the employment rates for women and wages from the jobs are usually lower compared to that of the men. Other reasons like the unfortunate death of one of the parents can lead to single parenthood
2.4 Step Families
Divorce and separation not only lead to single-parent families but also stepfamilies for couples who choose to re-marry. Through research by Lapierre-Adamcyk (2011) and Saint-Jacques et al. (2011), studies have shown that stepfamilies are at threat of dysfunctional foundations and running than nuclear families. Children who also grow up in stepfamilies face different transitions with which they may not adequately cope with, and carry this baggage into adulthood, where they act out by going against the law. A tiny percentage of children in detention centers come from nuclear families in comparison to the more significant proportion of children raised by step-parents.
2.5 Same-Sex Families
Same-sex couples often consist of legally registered partners or cohabiting couples of the same sex living together. Even though people have changed their view on same-sex marriages and relationships, some societies are still massively conservative about the acceptance of these marriages. The reason behind the legalization in some cultures follows the most massive aspect of modernity, which incorporates liberality. It pushes global citizens to make their own choices, compared to critical negativity that would be typically be presented against people who went against the societal norm. Although some couples stand out firmly with their sexual orientation, most of the couples who fall under this category have not come out for fear of being stigmatized by the community.
2.6 Living Apart Together
With a rise in union dissolution, rejoining at advanced ages has become usual (de Jong Gierveld & Latten, 2008). This kind of structure has led to the formation of “Living Apart Together” relationships, otherwise referred to as “non-residential partnerships.” The reasons behind the increase in this trend include the desire for the parents to advance careers and empower themselves personally. This leads to constant moving, and couples may find themselves in a distant relationship because of their careers. This might also lead to distant parenting, which is very much, unlike present parenthood and guardianship.
Conclusion
Almost every country worldwide has experienced an evolution in the traditional family structure due to modernity. The families now have become more diverse, and even the flow of life courses around families has been varied. Everyone has a choice to pick from when it comes to deciding what family structure suits them. Children, on the other hand, have not a choice but to fit in the families their parents choose for them, and most of them are raised by what the parents think is best for them.
With all these changes, one thing is clear; family transformation over the years has been affected by (a)changes in standards and customs (b) changes in context with the law and (c) changes in the economic paradigms. One major challenge concerning the research involving family demographics is the fact that families are not considered as dynamic entities. Future research should identify families or households as active and flexible structures to understand the changes through which the traditional family structure has been transformed into the diverse patterns of the current day.
References
De Jong Gierveld, J., & Latten, J. (2008). Incidence and backgrounds of transitional and sustainable bar relationships. Population trends, 56.
Festy, P. (1980). On the new context of marriage in Western Europe. Population and Development Review, 6(2), 311-315.
Furstenberg Jr, F. F. (2010). On a new schedule: Transitions to adulthood and family change. The future of children, 67-87.
Kiernan, K. (2004). Unmarried cohabitation and parenthood: here to stay? European perspectives. The future of the family, 66.
Martin, V., Le Bourdais, C., & Lapierre-Adamcyk, É. (2011). Stepfamily instability in Canada–The impact of family composition and union type. ZfF–Zeitschrift für Familienforschung/Journal of Family Research, 23(2).
Parsons, T., & Halsey, A. H. (1959). The school class as a social system. Schools and society: A sociological approach to education, 32-40.
Raley, R. K., & Bumpass, L. (2003). The topography of the divorce plateau: Levels and trends in union stability in the United States after 1980. Demographic Research, 8, 245-260.
Saint‐Jacques, M. C., Robitaille, C., Godbout, É., Parent, C., Drapeau, S., & Gagne, M. H. (2011). The processes distinguishing stable from unstable stepfamily couples: A qualitative analysis. Family Relations, 60(5), 545-561.
Thornton, A., & Young‐DeMarco, L. (2001). Four decades of trends in attitudes toward family issues in the United States: The 1960s through the 1990s. Journal of marriage and family, 63(4), 1009-1037.
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