Changing Patterns of Family Life - Extended Families
Extended families:
Vertically extended families: Families with 3 or more generations living under one roof- e.g. children, parents, grandparents
This includes Beanpole families- a multi-generational family with fewer children
Horizontally-extended families: close relationships with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles- one generation of family will spread wider across in contrast to privatised nuclear families
Less common in contemporary society, however recently the number of multi-family households has significantly increased according to ONS
Increase of 75% to 297,000 multi-family households in 2019 (1.1% of all households)
This number includes multi-generational - such as couples living with their child and their child’s partner and elderly parents living with their children and their grandchildren
Reasons for changes in extended families:
Geographical and social mobility
Ethnic diversity in family structures
State policies and welfare
Geographical and social mobility:
The decline in extended families because of the need for geographical mobility in the globalised workforce
Internal migration and international migration for employment result in the nuclear family often leaving close relatives to gain employment
This can result in upward social mobility for some families- through higher education, higher status positions and changing lifestyles
Ethnic diversity in family structures:
Berthoud (2000)- found relatively high rates of children and their partners living in parental homes after marriage among British South Asian families
According to ONS data from the 2011 census- 21% of Asian families fell into other family types which included multi-generation families- the highest of any ethnic group
Reynolds (2002) found Jamaican families more likely to have a matrifocal family, often headed by a grandmother or having male involvement as part of a visiting relationship
State policies and welfare:
A decrease in social care funding has led to more parents moving in with grown children and their families for support
Austerity measures have seen a rise in the number of people forming multi-family households
Increase in benefits for lone parents and working families have meant less reliance upon extended family networks for shelter
Evaluations:
Extended families may have reduced in living under the same roof over time, however, kinship networks remain
Grandparents are increasingly becoming involved in providing childcare for parents and financial support for their children well into adulthood
The family has become extended through technology with virtual links to the family that have migrated- modified extended family
Extended families:
Vertically extended families: Families with 3 or more generations living under one roof- e.g. children, parents, grandparents
This includes Beanpole families- a multi-generational family with fewer children
Horizontally-extended families: close relationships with siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles- one generation of family will spread wider across in contrast to privatised nuclear families
Less common in contemporary society, however recently the number of multi-family households has significantly increased according to ONS
Increase of 75% to 297,000 multi-family households in 2019 (1.1% of all households)
This number includes multi-generational - such as couples living with their child and their child’s partner and elderly parents living with their children and their grandchildren
Reasons for changes in extended families:
Geographical and social mobility
Ethnic diversity in family structures
State policies and welfare
Geographical and social mobility:
The decline in extended families because of the need for geographical mobility in the globalised workforce
Internal migration and international migration for employment result in the nuclear family often leaving close relatives to gain employment
This can result in upward social mobility for some families- through higher education, higher status positions and changing lifestyles
Ethnic diversity in family structures:
Berthoud (2000)- found relatively high rates of children and their partners living in parental homes after marriage among British South Asian families
According to ONS data from the 2011 census- 21% of Asian families fell into other family types which included multi-generation families- the highest of any ethnic group
Reynolds (2002) found Jamaican families more likely to have a matrifocal family, often headed by a grandmother or having male involvement as part of a visiting relationship
State policies and welfare:
A decrease in social care funding has led to more parents moving in with grown children and their families for support
Austerity measures have seen a rise in the number of people forming multi-family households
Increase in benefits for lone parents and working families have meant less reliance upon extended family networks for shelter
Evaluations:
Extended families may have reduced in living under the same roof over time, however, kinship networks remain
Grandparents are increasingly becoming involved in providing childcare for parents and financial support for their children well into adulthood
The family has become extended through technology with virtual links to the family that have migrated- modified extended family
