Examine the extent, and reason for, family diversity in today's society.

In today's society, there are several alternatives available to the family. Examples of these are
lone-parent, cohabitation and reconstituted. Leach views a typical family type as the 'cereal
packet image' including husband, wife and a few children in the family.

The Rapoports (1982) claimed that the 'conventional family did not cover the majority of
households and that family is only one of the options available. They were also the first to
emphasise the fact that family diversity was taking place and that because of this there was a
decline of nuclear families and an increase in lone-parent families.

They identify that there are five elements of family diversity in Britain, these are:

1. Organisational diversity- This is when the family structure, patterns of kinship, household
types and the division of labour within the home varies. They also claim that there is a increase
in the number of reconstituted families and Burgoyne & Clarke's study in 1984 shows that this is
an advantage as couples may not want to marry, but the children can still have to or more
parental figure in there life. Many sociologists have criticised the fact that the reason for under-
achieving children in lone-parent families is because they need 2 parental figures, so this family
type therefore should not be criticised.

2. Cultural diversity- this is when there are differences existing in the lifestyle of the family due
to different ethnic minorities and religious beliefs.

3. Difference between social classes- this is talking about the relationships between adults and
how this can affect their relationship. This can then go onto the way the child is bought up and
socialised.

4. Stages in the life cycle- this reflects at which stage the family is at in the lifecycle. If you're a
newly married couple with no children, your lifestyle will be a lot different to one with newborn
children.

5. Cohort- these are the stages in which the family go through during family life. This then takes
account of life experiences of the family and what they have been through (life cycle).

Eversley & Bonnerjea (1982) then add another aspect to the Rapoports and this was regional
diversity. They claim that people who live in the affluent south represent the higher class in
society. The coastal areas are seen as for people who are retired OAP's. Industrial areas (older)
contain families with conventional structures, however newly industrial areas contain
female/older workers and are mainly in the midlands. Rural areas contain strong kinship
networks and the inner cities tend to have ethnic minority families and a high number of
immigrants.

Although these points do tend to be quite strong and provable, however Eversley and Bonnerjea
do generalise about the "typical British family" whereas Gittens (1985) disagrees with this and
says there is no such thing as the British family.

As part of today's society, gay and lesbian societies are more widely found and more socially
accepted then they were many years ago. (Weeks et al, 1999) they also claim that roles in these
relationships are more equal and there is more choice available and negotiation is also involved
in the relationship. Feminists would strongly agree with this, especially Radical feminist's as they
see Lesbianism as the solution to unequal roles within the family.

New reproductive technologies can now give people the opportunity to have babies when they
are in capable or infertile. This was first established in 1978 when the first test tube baby was
born.

Macionis & Plummer said that surrogate motherhood is another option as well and stated that
there is no doubt that there are more choices available then before. These technologies have now
made it available for heterosexual, homosexual single and older women to have babies.

This increases the diversity already taking place as when these different types of families are
created

Lone parenthood has never been uncommon, but the cause of it has changed. First it was caused
through the death of a partner, but now it is now created through divorce. Statistically, 1 in 3
marriages end in divorce (2000) and nearly half of those divorced remarry within a year.

Lone parent families share a number of characteristics like; many are headed by women, they are
less likely to be in employment and they are much more likely to be in poverty (1992, 75%) and
claim income support.

However, we do have to look at lone parent figures carefully as they only tell us what is
happening at that point in time and doesn't represent the changing family life of many people.
They also do not see how children may start off as a lone-parent family but then after a while
turn into a re-constituted family through marriage or cohabitation.

Some conservative politicians say that the welfare state is to blame for the increase in lone
parents however labour politicians do not agree to this willingly as they developed the new deal,
which then encourages lone-parents to work rather then depend on the benefit system. However
here are some reasons why it could be said that the welfare state is not to blame for encouraging
lone-parents. Lone parents were existent before the welfare stare existed. (Established 1942).
Perry (1993) said that lone-parents do not get priority when seeking housing from the welfare
state, the homeless do so how can conservative politicians say that lone-parents depend on the
welfare state when they know they will not be prioritised?

Diversity can also take place in the forms of ethnic minority. It has been said that ethnic
minorities are influenced by their own culture, however there is a danger of generalising when
quoting the typical ethnic minority family. Ballard (1982) point out the important changes within
the Asian community. He states that their concerns for the wider kinship, loyalty to the family as
a whole rather then to individuals and the separate roles taken on by the men and women,
however Westwood & Bhachu 6 years later warn against generalising and state that Asian
families are just diverse as white families, as most Asian families are now nuclear yet wider kin's
are still respected.

West Indian families do have certain characteristics based on Caribbean life. Driver (a982) found
that these families had a large amount of matrifocal families (female headed), but Phoenix also
emphasises the danger of generalising, as ethnic minority families are themselves diverse.
Barrows, in 1982, looked at West Indian families and said there are 3 different types on families
in the Caribbean. These are the conventional family, cohabiting and the matriarchal family.
Chamberlain in 1999 looked at importance to the wider kin and stated that they do play an
important part in the up bringing of children. Functionalists would support Berthound & Beishon
(1997) who said that there was not so much importance given to a long term relationship or
marriage, therefore divorce and lone-parent statistics were high including illegitimacy and
unemployment.

Cypriot families in Britain, studied by Oakley in 1982 suggests that they have very strong ties
with their extended families in Cyprus and this was maintained with few people after moving
here with the elderly.

To conclude, I wound say these factors do very strongly take part in the increase in family
diversity. Many points are very strong which to prove the fact that some people don't mind this
diversion, however strong point have been given to criticise these points too.