Chapter 13

The Family

What is “family?”

Reasonable to approach from a functionalist perspective: – A small kinship structured group with the key

function of nurturant socialization of the newborn.– Kinship not necessarily biological – socially

defined connections Functions and structure very different across

cultures– E.g., Atlas of World Cultures is data set of non-

industrialized cultures

Variations in Family Life in Premodern SocietiesMen may have multiple wives 77

Easy for a man to divorce his wife 75

Couple has privacy when sleeping 28

Grooms are much older than their brides 70

Couples spend much leisure time together

27

Nuclear family is typical 29

Breakdown of the family?

Compared to when? What is you measure of “breakdown?” History of the family not always a pretty history

– High infant and child mortality– Children leave home and work at early ages– Parents often indifferent - Abuse and neglect

common– Marriage typically an economic arrangement

Good mothering is an invention of modernization

In the “Modern Family”

Marriage is about choice, and “cupid’s arrow,” finding happiness

This kind of marriage a product of modernization and industrialization

This is a good thing, right?– Research on novelty and attraction– Idealizing romance or sexual attraction

probably related to increase in divorce

Children – the trends Couples marrying later, waiting longer to have

kids Family size dropping – 2 most often response

to “ideal” question – mean is between 2 and 3 Children = strain in marriage – marital

happiness highest before and after kids 60%+ of American mothers employed outside

the home– Preschool and daycare more common– Egalitarian relationships more common (but still not

the norm - Working women still carry a disproportionate % of the childrearing responsibilities)

Back to the breakdown question

Divorce is up – US the highest rates in the world (partly reflects high marriage rate)

Marriage not significantly down, interestingly (one might assume it is)– < 5% report current status as divorced– 75% who divorce will remarry

Divorce rate difficult to calculate– Divorce rate well over 50% but…

Center for Disease Control (2002) % of American Women Whose First Marriage Ended in Divorce

Divorced after:5 years of marriage 15 years of marriage

All Women 20% 43%Race/EthnicityAsian 10% 23%Hispanic 17% 42%White 20% 42%African American

28% 55%

% of American Women Whose First Marriage Ended in Divorce

Divorced after:5 years of marriage 15 years of marriage

All Women 20% 43%Age at MarriageLess than 18 29% 59%18–19 24% 49%20–24 17% 36%25 and over 8% 35%

% of American Women Whose First Marriage Ended in Divorce

Divorced after:5 years of marriage 15 years of marriage

All Women 20% 43%Family Income

Low 31% 65%Medium 19% 40%

High 13% 31%

% of American Women Whose First Marriage Ended in Divorce

Divorced after:5 years of marriage 15 years of marriage

All Women 20% 43%Religion

Catholic 17% 37%

Conservative Protestant

18% 40%

Other (non-Christian)

17% 40%

Liberal Protestant 21% 44%

None 27% 56%

% of American Women Whose First Marriage Ended in Divorce

Divorced after:5 years of marriage 15 years of marriage

All Women 20% 43%ParentsNot divorced 17% 38%Divorced 26% 52%

Stark says: High divorce rate probably indicates that marital relationship more important than it used to be Partly saying that people expect more

from marriage Also important to not necessary equate

divorce with breakdown– When all marriages stayed together not

same thing as saying they were happy

Why Is Divorce Common? Romance is a highly perishable commodity The opportunities to get divorced have

increased – norms have relaxed The divorce rate is higher where a larger

proportion of women work outside the home. Where women outnumber men, divorce is

high Few children, family more mobile, extended

kinship networks less common (greater isolation of the family)

Trent and South analysis of these factors in 66 nations

Divorce rate of country is correlated with % in workforce, modernization, sex ratios

Interestingly, proportion Catholic appears not to be a strong predictor

Living Together Increased dramatically – almost ½ of 25-45

have lived together 51% of women who lived with their future

spouse were divorced by the end of 15 years of marriage.

39% of women who had not lived with their spouse divorced within 15 years.

But are higher divorce rates because they lived together?

The One-parent Family

In 1960, 5% of all births in the U.S. were to unmarried women.

This has risen to 33%– Over 60% in African community

In Iceland and Sweden, more than half of all births are to unmarried women.

Most unwed mothers keep their children and in 90% of divorces, children remain with the mother.

Unmarried Motherhood

Nation

Births to Unmarried

Mothers (%) Nation

Births to Unmarried

Mothers (%)Iceland 65 Canada 26Sweden 54 Netherlands 19Norway 49 Germany 18France 39 Spain 11

Great Britain 37 Italy 8

United States 33 Switzerland 8

Sweden an interesting example Family in Sweden

– Over ½ kids born to single moms– Swedes criticized for being individualistic and seeking self-

fulfillment Expanding welfare state the problem?

– Government replacing family? (e.g., state supported child care with no incentives for parents to stay home)

But on the other hand, crime, drug abuse, poverty considerably lower

In other “welfare states” out of wedlock rate low (Netherlands, Germany)

And does the US do enough? – 1993 Family Medical Leave Act = 12 weeks unpaid to care for newborn or sick family member– Sweden 18 months at 90% salary

Effect of One Parent Families on Children more prone to delinquency but the

differences are not great. poor parenting, regardless of the

number of parents, is the primary cause of deviant behavior in children.

Biggest problem might be relationship to poverty

Gay and Lesbian couples Homosexuals are raising children (previous

heterosexual unions, adoption, other methods) In this country it is illegal (1996 US Congress passed

law banning) – But some states (Vermont, Hawaii) and cities (San Fran, NY)

conferred some marital benefits In 1989 Denmark became first country to lift ban. Also

legal in Canada But in Nov of 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Court

rules that Gov attorneys “failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason” to deny homosexuals the right to marry

San Fran mayor defies California law and begins to marry people

Pres Bush, initially against Constitutional Amendment, changes mind

Gay marriage a “treat to the family”?

Should we / can we save the “traditional family” No question, dramatic changes since 1960

– this is point of reference for most of the “breakdown” arguments

– Since 1960, % single up, divorce up, children out of wedlock up

– Debate about gay marriage– Many will point to a long list of social ills that have

gone up as family has deteriorated. Cultural progressives see “traditional family”

as a moral statement– There are other family models, they argue