Question

Answer the following question in detail. (About 150 words)

Show how the role of family has changed in the present times. Illustrate with your own examples.

Answer 1

1. As society changes, families must adapt to new structures and processes.
2. Rapid growth of divorce, rise in the average age of getting married, changing roles of women, etc. are affecting the family as an institution.
3. Many newer family patterns are emerging in modern society.
4. Newer family relations relevant in the present time are:
   a. Single-parent family: It results from divorce, separation, death, or by choice. The majority of such families are headed by single mothers. Some researchers believed that growing up in such a family can be disadvantageous for children.
   b.Cohabitation/ Live-in relationship: It refers to the sharing of a household by an unmarried couple. It may or may not lead to marriage. A young generation or same-sex couples in many regions of Europe and urban areas of India prefer cohabitation over marriage.
   c. Step-parenting/ Reconstituted families: It results from the break-up of one family owing to death or divorce. A new family is started through marriage or cohabitation. It may include children from both, old and new families. With rise in divorce rate and remarriages, number of such families are increasing. v. The direction of change in family patterns may vary for different countries and regions. Also, the change does not imply complete erosion of earlier norms and structure.