FAMILY INSTITUTION IN 1975-2008

 Introduction between the ages of five or six and

fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, depending
There are several parts of social on the State or territory and date of
institution in australian: family, health, birth. For primary and secondary
language, politic, economy, religion, education, government schools educate
andeducation. approximately 60% of Australian
An educational institution is a place students, with approximately 40% in
where people of different ages gain private or independent schools. At the
an education. Examples of some tertiary level, the majority of Australia's
institutions are preschools, primary universities are public, and student fees
schools, secondary schools, and further are subsidised through a student loan
and higher education. They provide a program where payment becomes due
large variety of learning when graduates reach a certain income
environments and learning spaces. level. Health institution is Organizations
Education in Australia encompasses the that provides health care and related
sectors of early childhood services to the provision of inpatient
education (preschool) and primary and outpatient care, such as diagnostic
education (primary schools), followed or therapeutic services, laboratory
by secondary education (high services, medicinal drugs, and
schools), tertiary other health services. Organizations
education (universities, TAFE colleges, that provides health care and related
and vocational education and services to the provision of inpatient
training providers) and adult and outpatient care, such as diagnostic
education (referred to as adult and or therapeutic services, laboratory
community education or ACE). services, medicinal drugs, and
Regulation and funding of education is other health services. The economy is
primarily the responsibility of the States the institution that provides for the
and territories, but the Federal production and distribution of goods
Government also plays a funding role. and services, which people in every
Education in Australia is compulsory society need. Sometimes they can
provide these things for themselves, and
sometimes they rely on others to
provide them. When people rely on
others for goods or services, they must
have something to exchange, such as
currency (in industrialized societies) or
other goods or services (in
nonindustrialized societies). The
customs surrounding exchange and
distribution of good and services shape
societies in fundamental ways.
Religious institutions are the visible and
organized manifestations of practices
and beliefs in particular social and
historical contexts. Like human
emotions and attitudes, religious beliefs
and practices project outward onto the
social and historical plan. They create
identities and representations, and
determine attitudes, emotions, and
behavior. political institutions were
included as explanatory variables in
analyses of public policy, international
relations, or social movements. They
did not, however, gain the status of a
subject in and of themselves among
social science researchers and this field
of inquiry therefore remained a science
of constitutional texts. Family is the
basic social institutions from which
other social institutions have grown and
developed. In producers, slaves and
other servants as well as for the
members connected by a common
descent or blood relation. The word
“Family” has derived from a Roman
word “Famulus” which means servants.
And in this journal i would like to
explain more about australian family
institution in reinventing era (1975-
2008) completely.
 Discussion
A. What is family..?
'Family' is a single word, with many
different meanings. People have many
ways of defining a family and what
being a part of a family means to them.
Families differ in terms of economic,
cultural, social, and many other facets,
but what every family has in common is
that the people who call it a family are
making clear that those people are
important in some way to the person
calling them his family.
The dictionary defines family in
several ways. One definition is "a
fundamental social group in society
typically consisting of one or two
parents and their children." While this
definition is a good starting point, there
are several modern family
structures that are excluded by this
definition, such as childless couples or
other variations on the family unit.
Another definition is "Two or more
people who share goals and values,
have long-term commitments to one
another and reside usually in the same
dwelling." This definition encompasses
the vast majority of modern family
units; for the purposes of this article, the
second definition will be used.
B. What is institution.?
Institutions are "stable, valued,
recurring patterns of
behavior". or mechanisms of social
order, they govern the behaviour of a
set of individuals within a given
community. Institutions are identified
with a social purpose, transcending
individuals and intentions by mediating
the rules that govern living behavior.
The term "institution" commonly
applies to both informal institutions
such as customs, or behavior patterns
important to a society, and to particular
formal institutions created by entities
such as the government and public
services. Primary or meta-institutions
are institutions such as the family that
are broad enough to encompass other
institutions.
Institutions are a principal object of
study in social sciences such as political
science, anthropology, economics,
and sociology (the latter described
by Émile Durkheim as the "science of
institutions, their genesis and their
functioning"). Institutions are also a
central concern for law, the formal
mechanism for political rule-making
and enforcement.
C. Type of Family structure
 Nuclear Family
The nuclear family is the traditional
type of family structure. This family
type consists of two parents and
children. The nuclear family was long
held in esteem by society as being the
ideal in which to raise children.
Children in nuclear families receive
strength and stability from the two-
parent structure and generally have
more opportunities due to the financial
ease of two adults. According to U.S.
Census data, almost 70 percent of
children live in a nuclear family unit.
 Single Parent Family
The single parent family consists of one
parent raising one or more children on
his own. Often, a single parent family is
a mother with her children, although
there are single fathers as well. The
single parent family is the biggest
change society has seen in terms of the
changes in family structures. One in
four children is born to a single mother.
Single parent families are generally
close and find ways to work together to
solve problems, such as dividing up
household chores. When only one
parent is at home, it may be a struggle
to find childcare, as there is only one
parent working. This limits income and
opportunities in many cases, although
many single parent families have
support from relatives and friends.
 Extended Family
The extended family structure consists
of two or more adults who are related,
either by blood or marriage, living in
the same home. This family includes
many relatives living together and
working toward common goals, such as
raising the children and keeping up with
the household duties. Many extended
families include cousins, aunts or uncles
and grandparents living together. This
type of family structure may form due
to financial difficulties or because older
relatives are unable to care for
themselves alone. Extended families are
becoming increasingly common all over
the world.
 Childless Family
While most people think of family as
including children, there are couples
who either cannot or choose not to have
children. The childless family is
sometimes the "forgotten family," as it
does not meet the traditional standards
set by society. Childless families consist
of a husband and wife living and
working together. Many childless
families take on the responsibility of pet
ownership or have extensive contact
with their nieces and nephews as a
substitute for having their own children.
 Step Family
Over half of all marriages end
in divorce, and many of these
individuals choose to get remarried.
This creates the step or blended
family which involves two separate
families merging into one new unit. It
consists of a new husband and wife and
their children from previous marriages
or relationships. Step families are about
as common as the nuclear family,
although they tend to have more
problems, such as adjustment periods
and discipline issues. Step families need
to learn to work together and also work
with their exes to ensure these family
units run smoothly.
 Grandparent Family
Many grandparents today are raising
their grandchildren for a variety of
reasons. One in fourteen children is
raised by his grandparents, and the
parents are not present in the child's life.
This could be due to parents' death,
addiction, abandonment or being unfit
parents. Many grandparents need to go
back to work or find additional sources
of income to help raise their
grandchildren.
 Variety of Structures
There is no right or wrong answer when
it comes to what is the best type of
family structure. As long as a family is
filled with love and support for one
another, it tends to be successful and
thrive. Families need to do what is best
for each other and themselves, and that
can be achieved in almost any unit.
D. Function of family institutions
  Manifest
1. Reproduction
2. Regultion of sexual
3. Socialization
4. Status ascripstion
5. Protection
6. Economic
E. Autralian Family institution in
era (1975-2008)
At the time Australian Institute of
Family Studies commenced operations
in 1980, the marriage rate was
declining, and although the vast
majority of couples were married,
increasing proportions were cohabiting
(i.e., in a de facto marriage). The
divorce rate had peaked when
the Family Law Act 1975 came into
force in 1976 - the same year in which
the fertility rate had fallen to below
replacement level for the first time. By
1980, the divorce rate had subsided but
was well above pre-1976 rates, while
the fertility rate had continued its
downward slide. Alarm bells were
ringing about where the family was
heading and whether it would even
survive.
In this 30th anniversary year, it is
timely to reflect on ways in which
Australian families have changed over
the life of the Institute and to consider
some of the trends that were underway
prior to its establishment. This Facts
Sheet begins with a brief outline of
trends in basic family structure, and
then examines transitions that have
contributed to these structural changes
and some of the key ways in which
family functioning has changed.
 Relationship trends
As noted above, marriage rates prior
to the 1980s were already declining, and
cohabitation rates were rising - trends
that have continued, with cohabitation
becoming the normative pathway to
marriage:
 The crude marriage rate (i.e., the
number of marriages for every
1,000 members of the population)
fell from 9.3 in 1970 to 7.4 in
1980, falling progressively to 5.3
in 2001 and only increasing
slightly since then (to 5.5 in
2008).
 In 1975, only 16% of marriages
were preceded by cohabitation,
increasing to 23% just four years
later. By 2008, however, 78% of
those who married had lived
together beforehand.
The divorce rate had been increasing
in the 1960s and early 1970s, and
soared after the Family Law Act
1975 came into force in 1976. By 1980,
the number of divorces decreased, but
remained above the level prior to the
legislative changes. For example:
  The crude divorce rate (i.e., the
number of divorces per 1,000
population) more than doubled
between 1975 and 1976 (from 1.8
to 4.6), but fell to levels that
have, nonetheless, remained
much higher than before 1976
(between 2.2 and 2.9).
 The divorce rate was 2.7 in 1980
and declined progressively from
2.8 in 1999 to 2.2 in 2008.
Family law was therefore a very
strong focus of the Institute at the
outset.
 Marital status of lone parents
Given the increase in cohabitation
rates, changes have also occurred in the
marital status of parents. For example,
while most lone parents living with
dependent children have been married
previously, lone parents today are less
likely than in the past to have ever
married.
About one in five lone parents living
with dependent children in 1986 was
never married, compared with around
one in three in 2006.
The increase in the proportion of
lone parents who have never married
does not mean that these parents
became lone parents when their children
were born. Many of today's lone parents
have separated from a de facto
relationship.
 Having children
By 1980, young people were
remaining longer in education than they
had in the past and women were
increasingly embracing opportunities to
complete secondary schooling, embark
on post-secondary education and enter
the paid workforce. The "golden days"
of men's near universal employment
were over, and with the decline in
manufacturing, the demands for a better
educated, skilled workforce increased.
Education and employment trends in
turn contributed to the postponement of
marriage. With the wider availability of
the contraceptive pill in the 1970s,
women started to delay marriage and
postpone having children. Feminism
fuelled new aspirations for women
beyond the confines of marriage and
motherhood. Fundamental changes
were occurring in society and flowing
to family life.
 Fertility trends
Despite advances in assisted
reproduction technologies, the
postponement of childbearing, coupled
with relationship instability,
substantially narrowed the window of
opportunity for women having children.
The total fertility rate by 1980 had
declined from 3.5 (babies per women)
to 1.9 - that is, below the "replacement
level" of 2.1. Nevertheless, concerns
about the implications of this trend for
the age structure of the population were
yet to gain momentum.
 With the continuing decline of
the fertility rate in the 1980s and 1990s,
the reality that Australia was in the grip
of a fertility crisis became very
apparent. The alarm bells of the late
1990s reflected concerns about the
intergenerational social and economic
policy implications of the combination
of population ageing and diminishing
fertility. A key issue concerns whether
or not there will remain a sufficient
labour supply to support the elderly,
taking into account the fact that the
proportional representation of the other
main dependent group (those too young
to work) has been shrinking.
By 2001, the fertility rate had fallen to
1.7, but has since increased to just under
2.0.
 Child care
The surge of mothers moving into
paid work required changes in
arrangements for the care of the
children. While other relatives,
especially grandparents, are an
important source of child care, the
chance of relatives (or friends) taking
on this role depends on such factors as
their health status, residential location,
employment circumstances and quality
of their relationship with the parents.
Grandparents are in a position to
provide a unique combination of
resources that derives from their status.
For example, they can be companions,
historians, emotional confidants,
advisors, teachers, mentors, arbitrators,
and role models. It appears that 12-13%
of infants and 4-5 year old children see
their grandparents every day, with 45-
49% seeing them at least every week.
Nevertheless, the progressive
increase in mothers' workforce
participation has generated an
increasing demand for formal child
care. The proportion of preschool age
children in formal care, including
preschool, increased from 29% in June
1987 to 37% some nine years later
(March 1996) and to 45% another six
years later (June 2002).
 Stability within change
Despite all the changes outlined
above, some fundamental things about
families do not change. Most
importantly, they remain the basic unit
of society - a unit in which much
"communication, caring and sharing"
occurs - and, importantly, the site in
which most children are raised. As such,
families play a central role in shaping
the health and wellbeing of all
immediate family members. To quote
Thornton, Axinn, and Xie (2007),
"today, as has been true for thousands of
years, the family is still a primary unit
of human interaction, providing the
basis for both generational renewal and
individual linkage to the larger society"
(p. 3).
The Institute, likewise, has changed
in some ways but remains the same in
others. While the Institute's scope of
research has broadened considerably
and its name has changed (with the
word "Australian" being added to
"Institute of Family Studies" in 1986),
its core functions remain the same, as
set out in the Family Law Amendment
Act 1979, Part XIVA. These include
promoting the identification and
understanding of factors affecting
marital and family stability in Australia,
thereby promoting "the protection of the
family as the natural and fundamental
group unit in society". From its
inception, family stability has been
understood broadly to encompass
family wellbeing.
The identification of emerging
family changes and the forces behind
them is basic to this core function and
has therefore has been an important
focus of the Institute from its inception
and will continue to be so in future
years.
 Conclusion
In the opening years of the new
century there has been a concerted
focus on Australia’s children. This has
brought with it an attendant call for
fidelity and coherence across
government in the development of
policies affecting the lives of children
and young people, a need to broaden the
context of current child care policy
debate and a requirement to invest in
early prevention (developmental
prevention) opportunities (Richardson
& Prior 2005). The importance of this
should not be underestimated. At a
fundamental level, a policy focus on
children and their families is a policy
focus about human development across
the life course. The Longitudinal Study
of Australian Children is now
positioned to deliver evidence, along
with other Australian studies, to inform
this. In concluding, we return to a
general observation from the first wave
of data: the vast majority of parents are
doing well in the task of caring for their
families and parenting their children.
While the focus in this report has been
on difficulties parents relate with
respect to their parenting, to
maintaining relationship satisfaction
and wellbeing, and managing stress and
coping, the vast majority report
confidence in parenting. This is
encouraging. However, the data also
show that there is no room for policy
complacency in the face of the many
demands on families, and parents
particularly, that require them to
simultaneously care for their children,
for themselves and, increasingly, for
older family members now and well
into their future. Child outcomes are
increasingly subject to influences well
beyond the family. Subsequent waves of
data will offer the opportunity to refine
the preliminary observations made here
and identify potential modifiable causal
mechanisms and pathways to allow us
to better support the development of all
children.