Q.New canges in 21st century
The family as a fundamental social unit, performs some vital functions both for its members and for the larger society. Anthropologists have listed out several functions with varying degree of emphasis. Some of the well-known functions is the issue of stability of modem family, once again more particularly of the western family. Several factors are cited in support of the argument that the contemporary western family has become a highly unstable unit. These factors are:
- High divorce rates
- increase in the number of single parent house-holds
- Blended families -two or more mothers joined as family and play roles of parents for both children
- Step families
- Increasing incidents of sexual relationship before and outside the marriage
- Unwed mothers
- surrogacy children families
- Live-in ( i.e., an adult male and female agreeing to live together without getting married , and in addition may be agreeing not to have children)
- Childless marriages ( not out of any biological inadequacies, but out of a deliberate and conscious decision)
- Gay and Lesbian marriages that is homosexual marriages , many countries in the west have legalized
- Changing role relations- Females catching up with men in education and leveling up with men in almost all fields, and increasing employment of women, the conventional wife-husband relationship has come under strain. In conventional rural, pre-industrial societies, the male was dominant and was taking all major decisions in view of his economic status and the fact that generally he was more educated and aware. But today, the wife would expect and is entitled to a greater share in decision making and handling of family affairs. This transition from a male dominated to an egalitarian family set-up does create a lot of tension and ego clashes, and in many cases, may even lead to separation. Another point to be noted is that in contemporary western and urban family, grown up children tend to be individualistic and are quite confident of taking their own decision on careers and choosing their mates. Further, the social security system may provide financial support lo the unemployed youngsters. Even otherwise, youngsters today are not just willing to blindly go by parental commands. This factor also creates considerable tension in the modern family and contribute to its instability.
- High geographical and social -mobility: Modem families specially wage earning families in the western and urban areas of the other parts of the world too, tend to be highly mobile, geographically. They relocate themselves frequently in search of better jobs. This frequent relocation and shift of environment may also disrupt family stability.
The fore going picture indicate that the contemporary family is going through a crisis. However, opinion is divided among sociologists as to the cumulative effect of all these forces on the family. There are sociologists and thinkers like Barrington Moore, Ferdinand Lundberg, Margaret Meade and Alvin Toffler who maintain that the nuclear family in Its conventional husband-wife children format has become irrelevant in the high technology’ society of today.
In fact Lundberg goes to the extent of declaring “the family is near the point of complete extinction”. They predict a future family which just consists of a man and woman only or some other alternative to the present family- either on the lines of Israeli kibbutz or the communes of some small American groups like those of the Shakers, Huttrite’s, etc. These communes stress more on love and warmth than on carrying out any formal roles as in die traditional family. The communes are loosely structured groups of men and women.