Families and Households

What defines a family? It's a difficult question! Families have changed gradually over time; they are all unique, and neither is the same. Families and households are important topics for sociologists as they look at how they've changed over time.

In this explanation, we will provide a brief overview of the sections within the "Families and households" topic in A-level Sociology. We will be looking at:

• The definition of families, households, and childhood in sociology
• The different types of families, and the difference between families and households
• Sociological perspectives on the family
• Social trends and changing patterns in the family
• Evaluations of the symmetrical family
• Demographic trends in the UK

Families and households in sociology

When discussing families and households, it is important to define these terms. Equally, we must have a working definition for 'childhood', before we look at theoretical perspectives. After that, we can consider changes to family structure, households, and childhood.

What is a family?

You will see how this definition changes according to the sociological perspective being used. Generally, functionalists tend to view the family in the traditional sense, namely, a married heterosexual couple with children. Postmodernists disagree and prefer much broader definitions of the family that include civil partnerships, cohabitation, and even family friends and pets.

Fig. 1 - There are many ideas and conceptualisations of family.

A reconstituted family consists of two partners caring for one or more children in one household, but only one partner is biologically related to the child or children. This includes families with a step-parent.

Single-parent family

A single-parent family consists of a child or children with one parent in one household.

Extended family

An extended family consists of a 'nuclear family' living with relatives from outside the nuclear family. Extended families can be either vertical (with grandparents and great-grandparents) or horizontal (with uncles, aunts, or cousins) in one household.

An empty nest family consists of two partners in one household whose children have 'flown the nest' (moved out).

Empty-shell family

An empty shell family consists of two partners who have no emotional or sexual ties with one another but live with their child or children in one household.

Same-sex family

A same-sex family consists of two partners of the same sex with a child or children living in one household.

A cohabiting family consists of two partners living together and unmarried in one household.

What is a household?

In the topic of families and households, a key area of study is family and household diversity. This refers to the changes and variations in family structure and types of household due to various factors such as age, gender and sexuality, race, marital history, rising living costs, and legal changes. Family and household diversity can also refer to the organisation of the family, for example through changes in the division of labour.

We will be studying demographics and patterns in the UK that illustrate how families and households have changed in recent years.

What is childhood?

In many countries, it is legally and socially accepted that an individual is a child until the age of 18. However, this has not always been the case. It is important to understand the varying definitions of childhood across society and history as well as theories on what childhood should look like. (Check out Children and Childhood for more information.)

Sociological perspectives on families and households

We will be studying several sociological perspectives on families and households, including what sociologists believe the role of the family is and how family structures fit into wider society. These include the views of:

• Functionalism

• The New Right

• Marxism

• Feminism

• Postmodernism

Further explanations will look at what the approaches below have to say, specifically about families and households. (Visit each page for a better understanding.)

Changing patterns: social trends in families and households

The explanations that follow will be looking at changing patterns across various factors in recent years; these have changed the structures of families and households in the UK.

We will be considering changes in not only marriage and divorce rates but also the increase in diverse family types and how they have helped shape modern UK society as we know it.

The symmetrical family

We will be describing and evaluating the symmetrical family. This is a sort of family structure that consists of equal responsibilities and roles in the family, such as between two partners. The idea of a symmetrical family was theorised by Peter Wilmott and Michael Young in 1973.

They suggested that as society changed, the symmetrical family type emerged due to the fact that men's and women's roles were not as segregated as earlier. Both men and women could work and share household responsibilities. The gendered division of labour was decreasing and time was shared more equally.

Wilmott and Young described the symmetrical family as the third stage of family development as characterised by modern society.

Demographic trends in the UK

In our other 'families and households' articles, we will also be considering demographic trends in the UK and how they have affected family structures and wider society. We will also, where suitable, evaluate sociological explanations for:

• Why have these trends taken place?

• What impact do they have on current and future society?

The trends we will look at include birth rates, death rates, the ageing population, migration, and globalisation.