THE FAMILY TODAY :

DECLINING OR
CHANGING
 A. The Problem of Defining the Family

we know, Filipinos are family-oriented. The Anak-Magulang

complex and Kamag-anak relationship are very important to
Filipinos. Father, Mother, and Children are culturally and
emotionally significant to us not only to our immediate family but
also to our extended family (Tiya, Tiyuhin, inaanak, lolo, lola). This
family-centeredness supplies a basic sense of belongingness,
stability, and security. It is from our families that we Filipinos draw
our sense of self-identity. This Traditional definition or view of the
family leads many people to think that the family is an indispensable
unit or institution of society.
 Some statistics that raise doubts about the future of a family based on its
traditional definition:

• 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
However, there is no single correct definition of a family. Family definition
varies according to one’s personal experience, cultural background, sexual
orientation, and moral outlook
 Here are some definitions of FAMILY:
1. As defined by Mike Morris’ Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology
and the most controversial definition of family, a family is a group of people who have a
common residence and relationship and share economic and reproductive ties.
2. Census Family – a term used to define family by the Census Bureau of Canada
which refers to a married couple and the children, if any, of either or both spouses
• A couple living common law and children, if any, of either partner
• A lone parent of any marital status with at least one child living in the same dwelling
and that child or those children
• A couple may be opposite sex or same sex.
• Children may be children by birth, marriage, or adoption regardless of their age or
marital status as long as they live in the dwelling and do not have their spouse or child
living in the dwelling.
• Grandchildren living with their grandparent(s) but with no parents present also
Nucleus Family – a term used by the United Nations in defining family.
The following are considered under this type:
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
d. A mother with one or more unmarried children
Couples living in consensual unions should be regarded as married couples.
Common Elements of a family on definitions of Nuclear and Nucleus Family:
1. The biological component – with a child, married
2. The functional component – takes care of the children and provides economic support
3. The residential component – living under one household or common residence
Several functions or roles of the family as a basic unit of society:
1. Biological reproduction
2. As the primary agent of socialization of children
3. As the institution for economic cooperation through the division of labor
4. To care for and nurture children to become responsible adults
Marriage - Definition based on Article 1 of the Philippine Family Code states
that
1.Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a
woman entered into by law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is
the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution.
2. Marriage excludes same-sex marriage and polygamous unions.
Illegitimate children – children born out of wedlock. The Philippine Family Code
enacted in 1981 under Article 176, declared that “illegitimate” children must use
the surname of the mother. Congress amended Article 176 by enacting Republic
Act 9255 in 2004 that gave illegitimate children to use the surname of their
biological father as long as the father formally recognized the child.
• An illegitimate child is entitled to receive support from his/her biological
father provided that the latter recognizes the child as his own. If the father did
not recognize the child as his own, then support cannot be demanded unless a
court order is obtained for that matter.
• Legally adopted children have the same privileges or rights as legitimate
Cohabitants – are couples who share a common residence with a child, just like a nuclear family,
but without the benefit of marriage. In some countries, cohabitant is not recognized as official
families. Therefore they are not accorded to health, social security, and retirement benefits of
their partner. In some countries, cohabiting homosexual couples are not given hospital visitation
rights for their sick partner.
The United Nations differentiates household and family, meaning household and family are
different concepts that cannot be used interchangeably in the same census because:
1. A household may consist of only one person but a family must contain at least two members.
2. The members of a multi-person household need not be related to each other, while the
members of the family must be related.
Types of Families
1. Nuclear Family – the most basic family form and is made up of a married couple and their
biological or adopted children. Father, mother, daughter, son, sister, brother
2. Extended Family – families that include the other members of the kinship group like the
uncles, grandparents, and cousins.
Nuclearization of the Families – a process refers to the growing predominance of nuclear families over
extended families in both rural and urban areas, which is brought about by urbanization and economic
development.
Classification of Nuclear and Extended Family
1. Family of Orientation – the family to which one belongs
2. Family of Procreation – when one establishes a new family through marriage
Classification of Family based on the Rule of Descent
a. Unilineal Descent – societies trace their descent either through their father or mother
b. Patrilineal Descent – people automatically have a lifetime membership in the father’s group.
c. Matrilineal Descent – people join the mother’s group automatically at birth and stay members
throughout their life
d. Ambilineal Descent – the children can opt to claim lineage on either their father or their mother’s
group.
Descent groups Residence Rule after marriage:
1. Neolocal Residence –couples have the freedom and option to live separately and independently of
their respective families. Most common in the Western way of life.
2. Patrilocality – a married couple moves to the husband’s father’s community so that children will grow
up in their father’s village. Most common in non-western societies.
that
 PATRILOCAL

Patrilocal residence occurs when a newly married couple establishes

their home near or in the patrilineal descent (that is when descent is
measured only from males to their offspring, as in the case of the red
people in the diagram below). This is because it allows the groom to
remain near his male relatives. Women do not remain in their natal
household after marriage with this residence pattern. About 69% of
the world's societies follow patrilocal residence, making it the most
common. groom's father's house. This makes sense in a society that
follows
 MATRILOCAL

Matrilocal residence occurs when a newly married couple establishes

their home near or in the bride's mother's house. This keeps women
near their female relatives. Not surprisingly, this residence pattern is
associated with matrilineal descent (that is, when descent is measured
only from females to their offspring, as in the case of the green people
below). Men leave their natal households when they marry. About 13%
of the world's societies have matrilocal residence.
 B. Marriage and the Family
• Marriage – or a human marriage is a socio-sexual institution, a part of a wider
institutional complex of the family. - it is also an arrangement of procreation, a way
of caring for the offspring of sexuality, defining their legitimate descent, and the
main or ultimate responsibility for their upbringing.
• Marriage – as defined by Edward Westermark in his famous book History of Human
Marriage as a relation of one or more men to one or more women which is
recognized by customs or law and involves certain rights and duties both in case of
parties entering union and in the case of children born of it.
• Marriage is nothing else than a more or less durable connection between male and
female, lasting beyond the mere act of propagation till after the birth of the
offspring. Marriage is the center of the kinship system. It creates alliances and fictive
“kinship” among members of clans or tribes.
 Kinship consists of three aspects:

1. It comprises forms of nomenclature and classification

2. Rules that affect people’s kinship behavior, covering everything from
criminal laws to ideas about good manners
3. What people do
• Endogamy –the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class,
or social group, rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for
marriage or other close personal relationships. It preserves separateness
and exclusivity and are means of maintaining boundaries between one
group and other groups.
• Exogamous – is the practice of marrying outside one’s group, which is
common in modern societies. It creates links between groups.
• Marriage – establish Consanguineal (“blood relation” from the Latin
Consanguinitas) Relations and Relations of Affinity.
• Consaguineal Relation – two people are related to each other if they have
a common ancestor or descendant of the other.
• Relations of Affinity – two people are related if they are married, or if one
person is related by blood to the other person’s spouse.
• Affinal Links – the links between kinship groups established by marriage.
• Same-sex marriage – also known as gay marriage. It is a marriage between two
people of the same biological sex and/or gender identity.
• Marriage Equality or Equal Marriage – the legal recognition of same-sex marriage
or the possibility to perform same-sex marriage.
• Denmark – the first country in the world to legally recognize same-sex unions, after
passing a bill legalizing “registered partnership” in October 1989.
• Belgium – second country to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage.
• Polygamy – marriage that includes more than two partners.
• Polygyny – when a man is married to more than one wife at the same time.
• Polyandry – when a woman married more than one husband.
• Cenogany or Group or Conjoint Marriage – a marriage that includes multiple
husbands and wives.
• Sororal Polygyny – when a man marries several sisters as in the case of Jacob in the
Old Testament.
 C. Romantic Love, Mate Selection, and the Family
• In modern society, monogamy is often associated with romantic love, where one marries out of
love. Many young people today believe that people should many out of free will and not based on
forced choices or simply due to traditional requirements.
• Romantic love that is glamorized in television, movies, soap operas, and novels is a modern
phenomenon.
• Romantic love triumphs in the modern period because industrial capitalism promoted
individualism, free choice, and equality. One of the tenets (belief or principle) of romantic love is that
“all is fair in love”, meaning it transcends or beats economic inequalities and physical appearance.
• Some sociologists argue that economic benefits and social exchange operate in mate selection.
People tend to select partners that can offer them equal assets or even surpass their resources. In
this theory, a partner who contributes more economic subsistence to the relationship tends to have
more power in the relationship.
• Homogamy – people tend to marry people who share the same characteristics they have –
personality, class, family background. People tend to feel more comfortable with others from the
same social class.
 D. Emerging Issues on Families
Families and Domestic Violence
• Domestic and family violence occurs when someone who has a close personal
relationship with you makes you feel afraid, powerless, or unsafe. It can be physical,
but can also be emotional and psychological, sexual abuse and even stalking.
Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward
another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation
and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them
• Anyone can experience domestic and family violence. It happens across
communities, ages, cultures, and sexes. This can involve marriage partners, partners
living together, dating relationships, and even former spouses, former partners, and
former boyfriend/girlfriends.
• If you are experiencing abuse or violence it is not your fault. It is the abuser who is
responsible. Domestic violence is a crime and the abuser is breaking the law.
• Republic Act No. 6292 or An Act Defining Violence Against Women and
Children, Providing for Protective Measures for Victims, Prescribing Penalties
therefore, and for Other Purposes defined Violence against women and
children as
“refers to any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a
woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the
person has or had a sexual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a
common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within
or without the family abode, which results in or is likely to result in physical,
sexual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats
of such acts, battery (causing injury by repeated blows or punishment),
assault, coercion (the practice of persuading someone to do something by
using force or threats), harassment, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty (The
person is under continuous supervision and control and is not free to leave,
and the person the cannot consent to these arrangements).
2. Divorce and Remarriage
Divorce - is the legal termination of a marriage by a court in a legal proceeding,
requiring a petition or complaint for divorce (or dissolution in some states) by one
party. It is a court order saying that a man and a woman are NO LONGER a
husband and wife. There are two types of divorce-- fault and no-fault.
• the burden fell on the spouse seeking the divorce to prove wrongdoing on the
part of the other to justify the divorce. Common reasons included adultery,
extreme cruelty, abandonment, and abuse. While all states have done away with
making the practice of proving fault mandatory in favor of a no-fault approach
that acknowledges that both parties contributed to the breakdown of the
marriage, three states still require that fault be proven if the couple entered into
a “covenant” marriage – Arizona, Arkansas, and Louisiana – and some states
provide the “fault” option in addition to the no-fault one. However, no-fault
divorces are now standard practice, particularly for couples who don’t anticipate
a lot of fallout over matters like asset division.
Grounds for Divorce:
1. Alcoholism and drug abuse
2. Incompatibility
3. Disagreement about gender roles
4. Financial problems
5. Infidelity
6. Physical and emotional abuse
7. Sexual Incompatibility
Some factors that act as barriers to marriage dissolution:
1. Strong religious belief
2. Pressure from family or friends to remain together
3. Irretrievable investment
4. Lack of perceived attractive alternative to marriage
Annulment - is a legal procedure that cancels a marriage. Annulling a marriage is as though it is completely
erased, legally, and it declares that the marriage never technically existed and was never valid (THERE WAS
NEVER A MARRIAGE between the man and the woman).
What are the grounds for annulment?
According to Article 45 of The Family Code of the Philippines, there are 6 legal grounds for the annulment
of a marriage:
• lack of parental consent (if either party is at least 18 but below 21 years old)
• psychological incapacity
• fraud
• consent for marriage obtained by force, intimidation, or undue influence
• impotence / physical incapability of consummating the marriage
• serious sexually transmitted disease Legal separation - an arrangement by which a couple remain married
but live apart, following a court order.
Arranged marriage - type of marital union where the bride and groom are selected by individuals other
than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents.
Remarriage - a marriage that takes place after a previous marital union has ended, as through divorce or
widowhood.
3. Families in the Age of Post-Modernity
In a world where children are "growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy concepts of digital use
and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching these skills.
Reflexive Modernity – a social condition when people are aware and knowledgeable about the risk they face,
people no longer require a “forever” clause in a romantic relationship. Romance has lost its purpose and is bound to
die and will be replaced by a relationship that looks like a frank erotic desire. Romantic love today is slowly been
transformed into a fleeting relationship that avoids the risk of long-term commitment.
Love in this post-modern world also produces post-modern families and similar relationships that are very different
from traditional, modern families and marriages like same-sex marriages, single mothers, a lone individual with
adopted children, various forms of polygamous relationships, and open marriages.
Open marriage - is a form of non-monogamy in which the partners of a dyadic marriage agree that each may
engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded by them as infidelity, and consider or
establish an open relationship despite the implied monogamy of marriage.
Post-modern families reflect disorientation in intimate relationships in the globalized world because people are
exposed to various forms of cultures and lifestyles through Mass Media and the rapid advancement of information
and communication technologies (ICT), the effects of the mobile era which includes finding intimate partners.
Liquid Love – as referred to by Polish Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman defined as “to or characterize the rise to new,
reconfigured, and forms of interpersonal interactions including finding intimate partners”. A condition in which
everything becomes fleeting(lasting for a very short time), transient(impermanent), and disposable(intended to be
used once, or until no longer useful, and then thrown away).
4. LGBT FAMILIES
4 Ways that individuals in same-sex partner households come to parent children:
1.Through a prior relationship with a different sex partner that resulted in the birth of a child/children
2. Through Adoption
3. Through the use of assisted reproductive technologies
4. By becoming a partner to someone who has done one or more of these things
5. TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES: VIRTUAL CONNECTIONS
In the Phils., fathers traditionally pursue their careers and act as the breadwinner of the family. Fathers are
called “haligi ng tahanan” (pillars of the home) which refers to the foundations of the house. Today,
however, many women are already working outside the family. Filipino women are not only working in
domestic enterprises but they are also migrating to work as OFWs. The Philippines is the major supplier of
migrant workers in Asia to over 100 countries. According to POEA, as of April 2019, 2.3 million Filipinos are
working abroad.
• Transnational Families or Diasporic Families – according to Brycesson and Vourella defined as families
that live some or most of the time separated from each other, yet hold together and create something
that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely, familyhood, even across national
borders.
• Diaspora – the dispersion of any people from their original homeland
• Some results of studies on the effects of Transnational Families:
A. Negative effects
• 1. Children experience loneliness and sadness when separated from their parents
• 2. The school performance of the children also suffered
• 3. Mother-absent children tend to be angrier, more confused, more
apathetic(uninterested, no concern, no interest), more afraid, and feel more
different from other children
• 4. Children with both parents away report greater sadness
• 5. The absence of a mother has the most disruptive effects on children
B. Positive Effects
• 1. Remittances do help improve the quality of life of the migrants and the family
like the acquisition of real properties (house, land, real estate).
• 2. Children of migrants have better educational opportunities where they can
enroll in private schools offering good quality education
 Some reasons why people migrate:
1. The desire of job seekers to increase income and to improve the standard
of living
2. The emergence of new industries
3. The relocation of production facilities of a given business to a new area.
4. To protect themselves and their families from the effects of a weak
economy and volatile market, from political crisis, armed conflicts, and
other risks