Families

Sociology of Families  

The Nostalgia Trap: When you idealize the past so much that you stop appreciating of improving your current life. In terms of the sociology of families, its when people believe that families in the past are better, more normal, and more stable then they are currently, and use that idea to judge families today  

The “Traditional Family”: Refers to a specific family structure that became common in the mid 1900s. It is a household with two parents, a man and a woman, father who works ourside the home, woman who stays home and takes care of the children, and biological children living with them  

Nuclear family: A small family with two parents, their children, living together in one household.  

Cohabitation Revolution: The rapid rise of in couples living together without being married  

Smock and manning: Two researchers who study modern relationships. Common form of romantic relationship where people live together. It’s usually less stable then marriage.  

Wedding Industrial Complex: The idea that companies and the wedding industry pressures people into spending thousands of dollars on their wedding. Weddings costs can range from 20-50K dollars! 

Women’s second shift: It is when a woman goes to her job and then comes back to the house and does most of the housework and taking care of the children. Even when both parents work, the woman always ends up doing more in the house (in heterosexual marriages) 

Intimate Partner Violence: Can be physical, sexual, stalking, and psychological. Woman often stays because of things like proxy and financial violence  

Predicted areas of change in families: 

Economic: changes in jobs, income, and cost of living affect when people marry, have kids, and how families support themselves  

Demographic: Shifts in populations (age, diversity, etc...) change what families look like and how they are structured 

Sociocultural: Changing beliefs and values (about gender roles, marriage, etc...) lead to more diverse and flexible family types  

Political: Laws (marriage, rights, parental leave, etc...) shape how families form and function 

 Technological: Birth control, social media, IVF, etc... change how families can form and function  

Entrenched inequality: Unfair differences (like money, power, or oppurtunity) that are deeply built into society and hard to change  

First-Generation immigrants: People who were born in one country and then moved to live in another country  

Second-Generation immigrants: People born in a country whose parents immigrated there from another country  

Obergefell V Hodges (2015): A US supreme court case that legalized same sex marriage nationwide 

Multigenerational household: A household where more then two generations of a family (ex. Grandparents, parents, and children) live together.  

Sandwich generation: Adults who are simultaneously caring for their children and their aging parents at the same time  

Breadwinner-homemaker model: A family structure where one partner (usually the man) earn income while the other (usually the woman) stays home to manage the household and care for the children  

Dual-earner arrangement: A family setup where both parents work and earn income outside the home  

Cognitive labor/mental load: The invisible work of planning, organizing, and remembering tasks needed to run a household/family  

Leisure gap: The unequal amount of free time different people have, often with women having less leisure time than men due to unpaid work  

Public Health Crisis: A widespread health problem that threatens the wellbeing of a population and requires urgent action  

Cohabitation effect: The tendency for couple who live together before marriage to have a higher risk of divorce or lower relationship stability compared to those who do not  

Social integration: the degree to which individuals are connected to and participate in their community or society  

Thin market: A situation where there are very few people available for a cetain type of relationship or match, making it harder to find a partner  

Relationship inertia: The tendency for couples to stay together or deepen a relationship simply because they think theyre supposed to or its easier than breaking up, not because they intentionally decided to.  

Polygamy: Person has more then one spouse at the same time  

Polygyny: One man has multiple wives  

Polyandry: One woman has multiple husbands  

Gray Divorce: Divorce that occurs among older adults (50+)