THE FAMILY TODAY: DECLINING OR CHANGING?

The Problem of Defining the family

 Declining marriage rate and increasing rate of Cohabitation.

 Increasing Annulment rate.
 Increasing number of cases of Domestic Violence.
 Increasing number of women entering the labor force.

Nucleus Family (United Nations):

a) A married couple without children;
b) A married couple with one or more unmarried children;
c) A father with one or more unmarried children; or
d) A mother with one or more unmarried children.
Components of Nucleus Family:
1. Biological component
2. Functional component
3. Residential component
Kibbutz – babies farm in Israel and India.

Why the Definition of Family Matters?

Philippine family code – was enacted in 1989 and declared that illegitimate children must use the
surname of the mother.
Article 176 by enacting RA 9255 in 2004 – declared that illegitimate children can use the
surname of their biological father as long as the latter formally recognizes the child.
Identifying the members, one also provides a legal definition that determines what benefits the
family members may get.
Illegitimate Child – entitled to receive support from his/her biological father that the latter
recognized the child as his own.
Cohabitants – couples who share a common residence with a child but without the benefit of
marriage.

Family and Household

 The difference between the household and the family are that a household may consist of
only one person, but a family must contain at least two members and that the members of a
multi-person household need not to be related to each other while the members of the family
must be related.
Types of Families

 Nuclear family – basic family form made up of a married couple and their biological or
adopted children.
 Extended family – include other members of the kinship group.

Nuclearization of the Families – the growing predominance of nuclear families over extended
families in both urban and rural areas.
Family of orientation – the family which one belongs.
Family of procreation – one established a new family through marriage

Families and the Rule of Descent

Descent groups:
1) Unilineal – trace their descent either through the father or the mother.
 Matrilineal descent – people joins the mother group automatically after birth and stay
members throughout their life.
 Patrilineal descent – people automatically have life time membership in the father's
group.
2) Ambilineal descent – the children can opt to claim lineage on either their father or mother's
family group.
Neolocal Residence – the couples have freedom and option to live separately and independent of
their respective families.
Patrilocality – couple moves to husband's father community.

Marriage and the Family

Defining Marriage
Marriage – a relation of one or more men to one or more women.
Kinship – terminology which refers to relatives.
Endogamy – practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group and rejecting other which is not
belong to the group.
Exogamous – practice of marrying outside one's group.
Consanguineal relation – blood relation
Relations of Affinity – one person is related by blood to the other person's spouse.
Affinal links – links between kin groups established by marriage.
Godparenthood – rely on social relationships made by means of ritual observances.
Same-sex marriage or gay marriage – marriage between two people of the same biological sex or
gender identity.
Marriage equality or equal marriage – legal recognition of gay marriage or possibility to
perform.

Polygamous and Monogamous Marriages

Polygamy – marriage include more than two partners.
Polygyny – man married to more than a wife at a time.
Polyandry – woman married to more than one husband at a time.