definitions of types of families

traditional nuclear family

• a married couple with their own children (2/3 usually)

• husband goes to work and wife looks after most domestic duties (clear segregated roles)

• traditional family, described by functionalists like Parsons and New Right

definition of family

related by blood or marriage

definition of household

individual or group of people who live at same address

symmetrical family

• described my wilmott and young

• families became more symmetrical in later 20th century

• women going out to work

• men doing more domestic work

nuclear family with “new man”

• typical of postmodern society

• femal adult is breadwinner

• husband does most domestic work

vertical extended family

• multiple generations living together (e.g. grandparents and great grandparents)

• vertical on family tree

• ageing population

horizontal extended family

• households made of aunts, uncles and cousins

• family extends horizontally across the same generation

beanpole family

• vertical extended family with no/ few “branches” (i.e. siblings)

• more common with fall in fertility rates

matrifocal single parent family

• most common single- parent family

• single parent is mother of children

patrifocal single parent family

• less common single parent family

• family headed by single father

reconstituted family

• 2 nuclear families split and merge to form a new family (i.e. step parents and step siblings)

• much more common with increased rates of divorce and lower rates of marriage

same- sex couples

• multiple forms of same- sex family structures

• can be with or without children

• children can either be naturally the children of one member of the couple or adopted

living apart together

• couple who choose not to cohabitate (or are not currently)

• 10% of uk adults

grandparenting

• children brought up by grandparents

• more formal, permanent or semi- permanent arrangement than just grandparents who assist with childcare

singledom

• people living on there own

• common in contemporary britain

flatmates/ housemates

• multiple occupancy

• the people may or may not know one another prior to taking up residence

empty nest family

• couple have had children who have now left the family home

• more empty nests with rising life expectancy

boomerang family

• children who have left home come back

• e.g. graduating uni and returning home

• more common in housing market

polygamy

• illegal in the uk (i.e. being married to more than one person)

• some still live with >1 partner

• some have spouses in other countries (not recognised by uk law)

• in some cultures, seen as better than infidelity