mcgraw-hill © 2002 the mcgraw-hill companies, inc., all rights reserved. 15-1 chapter fifteen l...
TRANSCRIPT
McGraw-Hill © 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
15-1
Chapter Fifteen
Social Change and Families
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Two Fundamental Changes
Lessened Economic Dependence of Women
The Weakening of Marriage
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Decline of homemaker role Return to economic
independence
The Lessened Economic Dependence of Women
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90% of whites and 67% of African American eventually marry
Marriage is still preferred form of union Cohabitation is common and
acceptable to most Marriage is less economically
necessary -viewed more as personal self-fulfillment
Less important than kin ties in African-American community
The Weakening of Marriage
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Emergence of Created Kinship Decline of lifelong marriage as the
organizing principle of families has led to an important change in the nature of kinship Kin is being chosen from pools of
eligibles– friends, stepfamilies
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Defined outside boundaries of marriage
Based on what people do for one another - not family tree
Create a support network of family and friends
Choosing One’s Kin
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Choosing One’s Kin
Created kinships can present challenges = need continual attention to maintain
Without the support of social norms, legal obligations or biological self-interest, created kinship ties must be kept active
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Feminization of Kinship
Women do more to keep kinship ties As marriage becomes less stable and
kinship networks remain women’s work, men will find themselves without adequate support from kin
More impact on men later in life, particularly when needing care in old age
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Social Change and the Public Family: The Elderly Well-being and lifespan improved Most will know grandchildren
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Changes in the well-being of the elderly represents success for social policy and family caregiving With social support (Social Security)
and better health they can live independently from their children
A Success Story
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Although improvements have been made in well-being of elderly what will the effects of the Baby Boomer generation?
The Calm Before the Storm
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When they hit elderly - what types of changes might there be?
Unmarried women Possible rise in Social Security taxes -
more elderly than those who support them Lessened benefits to well-to-do elderly
Having fewer children- less children to share caregiving burden
More women working- less available to give care
The Calm Before the Storm
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Social Change and the Public Family: Children
Many indicators suggest that the well-being of children has declined
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The non-poor: children in the shrinking middle, neither poor nor privileged Effects of divorce, cohabitation, and
remarriage Mothers working outside of the home
The Non-poor
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The Poor
Dramatic increase in children living with one parent Consequences of low income in a
single-parent home More difficulty monitoring and
controlling the behavior of their teenage children, regardless of income
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What To Do?
More public support for single-parent and alternative forms of family Do not want to make so attractive
as to lessen numbers of two-parent families
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Advocates believe that this family form provides a superior setting for raising children Children need both mothers and
fathers Key policy to promote marriage and
reduce the number of children born to unmarried women
Encouraging Two-Parent Families
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Advocates believe in supporting single-parent families They will continue to increase in
numbers due to broad economic and cultural trends
Assistance to low-income single parents and their children
Assisting Single-Parent Families
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Women into the workforce Decline in earning power of men
without college degreesLess attractive as marriage partners
Increasing individualismDivorce rate doubled
Welfare reform Earned Income Tax Credit
Assisting Single-Parent Families
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Assisting All Families Almost all Western nations provide more
financial assistance to families than the U.S. One of the reasons that the US has such a
high percentage of children who are poor National health insurance system would
would have been major antipoverty measure for children Introduced in 1994, but Congress did not
enact 11 million children, not covered by health
insurance
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Assisting All Families People’s view of children also
changed in 20th century Children seen less as laborers and
more as fragile beings in need of care State and helping professions began
to intervene between parent and child May have reduced the privacy of the
family Compulsory school laws
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The Deregulation of Intimate Unions Legal restrictions on marriage
weakened considerably Marriage has become an individual decision Basic personal right, not a socially approved
way of transferring land and property or wealth to descendents
Blurring of legal and social boundaries between married and unmarried persons
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Increasingly private and self-fulfillment emphasis on marriage and cohabitation Less support for neighborhoods,
church groups and communities Standard of living high, so people
can focus on personal well-being
Excessive Individualism?
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Individualism can be judged a problem only if it interferes with important social functions Parents obligation for tending to the
well-being of their children Changes appear to be detrimental to the
well-being of children Instability of family relationships, living
arrangements
Excessive Individualism?
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Individualism not responsible for all the increase in divorce, single-parent families and problems of children
Economic causes: Manufacturing business left the country
and resulted in deterioration of young people’s labor market prospects
Growth of the service sector of the economy and jobs available to women
Excessive Individualism?
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Greater stability and security of marriage achieved at the cost of restricting women’s lives more than men’s Breadwinner-homemaker norm left
wives dependent on husbands
Sharing the Cost of Stability
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New bargain between men and women Provide them both with a greater sense
of security in relationships More stability in their children’s lives Is it possible? Women still have double burden of
work and housework Marriage may be less attractive
Sharing the Cost of Stability
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Sharing the Cost of Stability Men who wish for a second earner
may need to do more work around the house and with the children
Married men are more likely to do this if they value marital stability and living with children every day
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Likely to be little decline in divorce rates Too many alternatives acceptable to
marriage if both husband and wife are working
Sharing the Cost of Stability
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Summing Up The family as an institution was
designed for operating in scarcity Now being asked to perform in times
of greater prosperity Historically, men have dominated
the family Contemporary challenge is for them
to share the burdens as well as the power and authority equitably
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Historically, the family was designed to raise many children so that some would survive to adulthood Fewer children today, and sustained
periods in a marriage without children Strengths of the family still include
the continuing desires of most adults to experience lasting bonds of intimacy and affection and to have children
Summing Up
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Summing Up
The family as an institution has demonstrated an ability to assume a diversity of forms in different cultures and in different eras