No clear definition
Statistics
2022
• Used either in broad sense (descendants of a common ancestor) or
• 19.4m families (increase of 1m in de
narrow sense (parents and children living together as unit)
• As a sociological concept – tend to use narrower definition + only bring
• 2.9m lone-parent families (nearly 1
in wider relatives if live together
• 43% families had no children living
Family defined by most sociologists as:
• Couple in relationship based on marriage/civil partnership/cohabitation
• 66% of families were marriages/civ
(with or without dependent children)
• Lone-parent with child
• 1 in 5 families were Cohabiting coup
What is a
Household:
• Person living alone family? • 85% of lone parent families headed
• Group of people living together (sharing meals/bills/chores) Sociologists interested because it’s the • 2 in 3 households consist of 1 famil
primary socialisation agent of society +
→ Regardless of kinship ties (flatmates, multiple occupancy houses of forms central experiences of an • 8.3 million people living alone in UK
migrants) individual's life
• Over 50% of lone occupants are fem
, General views
Value Consensus 👍 👀 Functionalist • Functions depend on society
Talcott Parsons (1955)
• Society is based on value consensus (shared norms/values) into which • Distinguishes between nuclear family + extended family (3 gene
members are socialized
• This allows them to cooperate harmoniously + meet society’s needs views of Functional Fit theory
Organic analogy
• Regard society as system of sub-systems that depend on each other
• E.g. organs perform functions vital to wellbeing of whole body 🧍🏼 family • Structure of family ‘fits’ needs of society
🧩
2 basic types of society:
• Family acts as building block by performing vital functions for individuals + → Modern industrial society (nuclear family)
society (primary socialisation) → Traditional pre-industrial society (extended family)
Cereal Packet Family
• Oakley – stereotypical picture in Britain • Believes when Britain began to industrialise in late 18th century,
• Idealised concept of nuclear family (mum, dad, 2 kids) nuclear
• This was because it had different needs + family had to adapt
🏭
Murdock (1949) 2 essential needs of industrial society:
• Based on sample of 250 societies Geographically mobile • In traditional society people spent who
• Found variety of family forms but NUCLEAR FAMILY IS A UNIVERSAL INSTITUTION
(on its own or as base unit within extended)
March of Progress
🙂 workforce
•
on same farm
In modern society industries spring up
country/world
•
•
Nuclear family = two generations living in same household
Many right-wing sociologists believe nuclear is ideal + performs functions best
👪 •
•
Wilmott & Young (1973) established 4 stages of family
development as society modernizes
Important factor in family change is Stratified diffusion
🌎 •
•
People required to move for job ✈️
Easier for compact nuclear than exten
Functions Socially mobile workforce • Modern society based on evolving scie
(cultural changes began in higher classes + passed
1. Educational – Norms + values (primary socialisation)
2. Economic – pooling resources + providing food/shelter
🎓 down social strata to become norm)
👇 •
workforce
Essential that talented people win pro
3. Reproductive – produces next generation
💷 (even if humble background)
🍼
4. Sexual – ensures adult sexual relationships are controlled with 1 partner
Stage 1 – Pre-industrial family • Status is achieved by effort/ability – n
background so people can move betw
🏅
• Unit of economic production
(preventing social disruption from sexual free for all)
Evaluation
❤️
• Some argue other institutions or non-nuclear families can perform just as well (e.g.
• No separation between work + home
• Live with or close to family
Stage 2 – Early industrial family
🐄 •
•
•
In extended family where adult sons li
higher ascribed status, but son has hi
Solution is for son to leave when marr
Result is nuclear family that is structur
+ no obligation to them
communes in Western Europe + US in 1960’s lived collectively BUT few remain) • Move to towns • Previously had overriding duty to help
• Marxists + feminists reject ‘rose-tinted’ + idealistic view that family meets needs of
society + members (neglects conflict + honour killing of women in Islamic cultures) 🤩
• Home and work separated – men work
• Women perform domestic role
• Female relatives bonded
• Men excluded from home + spent time at pub
🏙️ Loss of functions
Preindustrial family was multifunctional unit:
🚜
• Murdock’s definition includes 2 heterosexual parents, but many contemporary families • Unit of production (work together on farm)
aren’t that Stage 3 – Symmetrical family • Unit of consumption (feeding + clothing members) 🍴
• Callahan – gay couples should be seen as families (allowed to marry since 2014) so
relationship no different from heterosexual
🏳️🌈
• Modern nuclear family with less gender segregation
• Both employed + perform domestic chores
• Unit of consumption
• Smaller families as children no longer financial assets
🧑🤝🧑 → More self-sufficient unit than nuclear (welfare state)
→ Industrialization = family loses functions (work moves to factori
consumption)
→ Many functions lost to institutions like schools + healthcare sys
• Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley criticizes warm bath theory (‘women are takers of shit’) • Isolated from kinship networks
so stress relived by dumping on women Nuclear family still has 2 irreducible functions:
Stage 4 – Asymmetrical family • Primary socialisation – teaches particularistic values of family/c
•
•
Outdated + assumes all families are nuclear with men working + women in domestic
role
🕰️
Laslett – church records show only 10% were extended before industrial revolution
• Didn’t occur
• Men spend leisure time outside home (golf)
•
🏌🏻
Feminist research suggests symmetrical family is a myth
•
taught universal values of wider society) as well as gender role
Stabilisation of adult personalities – prevents adults from behav
encourages them to conform to social norms at times of stress
⛪ • Modern nuclear family presented in idealistic way – man comes home from hard day at work - relaxes into family to
• Wilmott + Young – extended kin networks still predominant in 1970’s East London contrasts to many experiences next day)
(migration)
, 🛒
priority
💷
General views
👀
Capitalist society = making a profit and financial success are Socialisation
•
Ideological functions
🧠
Argue family transmits set of beliefs that justify inequality + maintain capitalist
•
Unit of consumption
Capitalism exploits workers + makes profit by selling pro
more than they are paid to produce them
system by persuading people to accept it as fair (Althusser)
Unequal conflict • One way this is done is socializing kids into idea that hierarchy is inevitable • Therefore, family plays major role in generating profit for
→Capitalist class (Bourgeoise) – own means of production
→Working class (Proletariat) – labour exploited for profit by
🤑 (parental especially paternal power accustoms them to the idea that someone is
always in charge of them)
important market for sale of goods
capitalists 😔 • This prepares them for a working life in which they accept orders from capitalist
• Advertisers urge families to ‘Keep Up With The Joneses’ b
employers
products + prove you have money
• All institutions (education/media/religion/state) help maintain
class inequality + capitalism 📱 Illusion of safe haven 😇
• Family is a conservative institution whose purpose is to • Family offers apparent haven from harsh and exploitative world of capitalism • Media targets kids who use ‘Pester Power’ to make paren
preserve capitalism (workers can be themselves) (No restrictions in UK but in Sweden advertising at under 12’s
• Families weaken workers position compared to boss (single • Zaretsky (1976) argues this is an illusion as family cannot meet members needs
person can walk away if exploited but now must consider • Kids who lack latest clothes/gadgets are mocked + stigm
dependents like wife + kids) Hochschild (2011)
• Almost every aspect of life commodified (commercialized) • Labour-saving devices (hoovers) means women can work
• Relationships used to be private but now thing to buy/sell (dating agencies)
3 functions:
• Alienation = more detached from feelings + relationships Inheritance of property
1. Inheritance of property 2. Ideological function
3. Unit of consumption
• May overstate importance of work in 21st Century
👩❤👨
️ •
•
Key factor that determines shape of all social institutions is m
owns productive forces like machines/raw material/land)
In modern society the capitalist class owns this
Evaluation
• Evidence that gender inequality preceded capitalism (majority of
tribes in Africa + Asia are patriarchal – women have no political
Marxist
• As mode of production changes, so does the family
Primitive communism – Karl Marx
🔨
power)
• Earliest classless society where there was no private proper
views of
means of production communally
• Capitalist economies like USA and UK have seen fastest
improvements in gender equality (correlation) 💰 • At this stage of social development there was no ‘family’
• Too deterministic (assumes people passively accept
socialisation but there are families that reject consumerist
lifestyle + raise kids to be independent thinkers)
family Engels
• Instead, there was a ‘Promiscuous Horde’ where there was n
activity → little historical evidence + still adultery in 21st cent
• Ignores benefits of the nuclear family (both parents to support • As forces of production increased, so did wealth of society
child - New Right say this is most functional environment to
raise children, universal around world, emotional support) • This led to the development of private property + patriarchal
• Engels theory is not romantic take on marriage – family must be • Monogamy became essential due to inheritance of private pr
about more than inheritance because people without property certain of paternity to ensure legitimate heirs inherit from th
form them (Engels would say this is due to trickle down effect
• The monogamous nuclear family represented a ‘world histor
of dominant ideology)
💍 sex’ (brought women's sexuality under male control + turned
instruments for production of children)
• Despite experiments with communal living after Russian
revolution, people continued to live in family units in communist • Marxists argue overthrowing capitalism + private ownership
countries – capitalism isn’t due to family (lacks temporal allow women to achieve liberation from patriarchal control
validity)
• A classless society would emerge + there will no longer be a
• Zaretksy’s theory is outdated – assumes breadwinner is male + because no means of transmitting property
only one worker in family
🕰️ 🏠
Statistics
2022
• Used either in broad sense (descendants of a common ancestor) or
• 19.4m families (increase of 1m in de
narrow sense (parents and children living together as unit)
• As a sociological concept – tend to use narrower definition + only bring
• 2.9m lone-parent families (nearly 1
in wider relatives if live together
• 43% families had no children living
Family defined by most sociologists as:
• Couple in relationship based on marriage/civil partnership/cohabitation
• 66% of families were marriages/civ
(with or without dependent children)
• Lone-parent with child
• 1 in 5 families were Cohabiting coup
What is a
Household:
• Person living alone family? • 85% of lone parent families headed
• Group of people living together (sharing meals/bills/chores) Sociologists interested because it’s the • 2 in 3 households consist of 1 famil
primary socialisation agent of society +
→ Regardless of kinship ties (flatmates, multiple occupancy houses of forms central experiences of an • 8.3 million people living alone in UK
migrants) individual's life
• Over 50% of lone occupants are fem
, General views
Value Consensus 👍 👀 Functionalist • Functions depend on society
Talcott Parsons (1955)
• Society is based on value consensus (shared norms/values) into which • Distinguishes between nuclear family + extended family (3 gene
members are socialized
• This allows them to cooperate harmoniously + meet society’s needs views of Functional Fit theory
Organic analogy
• Regard society as system of sub-systems that depend on each other
• E.g. organs perform functions vital to wellbeing of whole body 🧍🏼 family • Structure of family ‘fits’ needs of society
🧩
2 basic types of society:
• Family acts as building block by performing vital functions for individuals + → Modern industrial society (nuclear family)
society (primary socialisation) → Traditional pre-industrial society (extended family)
Cereal Packet Family
• Oakley – stereotypical picture in Britain • Believes when Britain began to industrialise in late 18th century,
• Idealised concept of nuclear family (mum, dad, 2 kids) nuclear
• This was because it had different needs + family had to adapt
🏭
Murdock (1949) 2 essential needs of industrial society:
• Based on sample of 250 societies Geographically mobile • In traditional society people spent who
• Found variety of family forms but NUCLEAR FAMILY IS A UNIVERSAL INSTITUTION
(on its own or as base unit within extended)
March of Progress
🙂 workforce
•
on same farm
In modern society industries spring up
country/world
•
•
Nuclear family = two generations living in same household
Many right-wing sociologists believe nuclear is ideal + performs functions best
👪 •
•
Wilmott & Young (1973) established 4 stages of family
development as society modernizes
Important factor in family change is Stratified diffusion
🌎 •
•
People required to move for job ✈️
Easier for compact nuclear than exten
Functions Socially mobile workforce • Modern society based on evolving scie
(cultural changes began in higher classes + passed
1. Educational – Norms + values (primary socialisation)
2. Economic – pooling resources + providing food/shelter
🎓 down social strata to become norm)
👇 •
workforce
Essential that talented people win pro
3. Reproductive – produces next generation
💷 (even if humble background)
🍼
4. Sexual – ensures adult sexual relationships are controlled with 1 partner
Stage 1 – Pre-industrial family • Status is achieved by effort/ability – n
background so people can move betw
🏅
• Unit of economic production
(preventing social disruption from sexual free for all)
Evaluation
❤️
• Some argue other institutions or non-nuclear families can perform just as well (e.g.
• No separation between work + home
• Live with or close to family
Stage 2 – Early industrial family
🐄 •
•
•
In extended family where adult sons li
higher ascribed status, but son has hi
Solution is for son to leave when marr
Result is nuclear family that is structur
+ no obligation to them
communes in Western Europe + US in 1960’s lived collectively BUT few remain) • Move to towns • Previously had overriding duty to help
• Marxists + feminists reject ‘rose-tinted’ + idealistic view that family meets needs of
society + members (neglects conflict + honour killing of women in Islamic cultures) 🤩
• Home and work separated – men work
• Women perform domestic role
• Female relatives bonded
• Men excluded from home + spent time at pub
🏙️ Loss of functions
Preindustrial family was multifunctional unit:
🚜
• Murdock’s definition includes 2 heterosexual parents, but many contemporary families • Unit of production (work together on farm)
aren’t that Stage 3 – Symmetrical family • Unit of consumption (feeding + clothing members) 🍴
• Callahan – gay couples should be seen as families (allowed to marry since 2014) so
relationship no different from heterosexual
🏳️🌈
• Modern nuclear family with less gender segregation
• Both employed + perform domestic chores
• Unit of consumption
• Smaller families as children no longer financial assets
🧑🤝🧑 → More self-sufficient unit than nuclear (welfare state)
→ Industrialization = family loses functions (work moves to factori
consumption)
→ Many functions lost to institutions like schools + healthcare sys
• Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley criticizes warm bath theory (‘women are takers of shit’) • Isolated from kinship networks
so stress relived by dumping on women Nuclear family still has 2 irreducible functions:
Stage 4 – Asymmetrical family • Primary socialisation – teaches particularistic values of family/c
•
•
Outdated + assumes all families are nuclear with men working + women in domestic
role
🕰️
Laslett – church records show only 10% were extended before industrial revolution
• Didn’t occur
• Men spend leisure time outside home (golf)
•
🏌🏻
Feminist research suggests symmetrical family is a myth
•
taught universal values of wider society) as well as gender role
Stabilisation of adult personalities – prevents adults from behav
encourages them to conform to social norms at times of stress
⛪ • Modern nuclear family presented in idealistic way – man comes home from hard day at work - relaxes into family to
• Wilmott + Young – extended kin networks still predominant in 1970’s East London contrasts to many experiences next day)
(migration)
, 🛒
priority
💷
General views
👀
Capitalist society = making a profit and financial success are Socialisation
•
Ideological functions
🧠
Argue family transmits set of beliefs that justify inequality + maintain capitalist
•
Unit of consumption
Capitalism exploits workers + makes profit by selling pro
more than they are paid to produce them
system by persuading people to accept it as fair (Althusser)
Unequal conflict • One way this is done is socializing kids into idea that hierarchy is inevitable • Therefore, family plays major role in generating profit for
→Capitalist class (Bourgeoise) – own means of production
→Working class (Proletariat) – labour exploited for profit by
🤑 (parental especially paternal power accustoms them to the idea that someone is
always in charge of them)
important market for sale of goods
capitalists 😔 • This prepares them for a working life in which they accept orders from capitalist
• Advertisers urge families to ‘Keep Up With The Joneses’ b
employers
products + prove you have money
• All institutions (education/media/religion/state) help maintain
class inequality + capitalism 📱 Illusion of safe haven 😇
• Family is a conservative institution whose purpose is to • Family offers apparent haven from harsh and exploitative world of capitalism • Media targets kids who use ‘Pester Power’ to make paren
preserve capitalism (workers can be themselves) (No restrictions in UK but in Sweden advertising at under 12’s
• Families weaken workers position compared to boss (single • Zaretsky (1976) argues this is an illusion as family cannot meet members needs
person can walk away if exploited but now must consider • Kids who lack latest clothes/gadgets are mocked + stigm
dependents like wife + kids) Hochschild (2011)
• Almost every aspect of life commodified (commercialized) • Labour-saving devices (hoovers) means women can work
• Relationships used to be private but now thing to buy/sell (dating agencies)
3 functions:
• Alienation = more detached from feelings + relationships Inheritance of property
1. Inheritance of property 2. Ideological function
3. Unit of consumption
• May overstate importance of work in 21st Century
👩❤👨
️ •
•
Key factor that determines shape of all social institutions is m
owns productive forces like machines/raw material/land)
In modern society the capitalist class owns this
Evaluation
• Evidence that gender inequality preceded capitalism (majority of
tribes in Africa + Asia are patriarchal – women have no political
Marxist
• As mode of production changes, so does the family
Primitive communism – Karl Marx
🔨
power)
• Earliest classless society where there was no private proper
views of
means of production communally
• Capitalist economies like USA and UK have seen fastest
improvements in gender equality (correlation) 💰 • At this stage of social development there was no ‘family’
• Too deterministic (assumes people passively accept
socialisation but there are families that reject consumerist
lifestyle + raise kids to be independent thinkers)
family Engels
• Instead, there was a ‘Promiscuous Horde’ where there was n
activity → little historical evidence + still adultery in 21st cent
• Ignores benefits of the nuclear family (both parents to support • As forces of production increased, so did wealth of society
child - New Right say this is most functional environment to
raise children, universal around world, emotional support) • This led to the development of private property + patriarchal
• Engels theory is not romantic take on marriage – family must be • Monogamy became essential due to inheritance of private pr
about more than inheritance because people without property certain of paternity to ensure legitimate heirs inherit from th
form them (Engels would say this is due to trickle down effect
• The monogamous nuclear family represented a ‘world histor
of dominant ideology)
💍 sex’ (brought women's sexuality under male control + turned
instruments for production of children)
• Despite experiments with communal living after Russian
revolution, people continued to live in family units in communist • Marxists argue overthrowing capitalism + private ownership
countries – capitalism isn’t due to family (lacks temporal allow women to achieve liberation from patriarchal control
validity)
• A classless society would emerge + there will no longer be a
• Zaretksy’s theory is outdated – assumes breadwinner is male + because no means of transmitting property
only one worker in family
🕰️ 🏠
