1. Chapter 13 Family Life

2. Family Family – social institution that unites individuals into cooperative groups that care for members, regulate sexual relations, and oversee having and raising of children –Nuclear Families –Extended Families Kinship – a social bond, typically based on blood, marriage, or adoption, that joins individuals into families Families of Affinity – people with or without legal or blood ties who feel they belong together and define themselves as a family

3. Living Together Cohabitation – the sharing of a household by an unmarried couple –Some 5.6 million U.S couples (9%) cohabit. –Evidence suggests that cohabitation discourages marriage and raises the rate of single parenting. –5% of children born to cohabitating parents live with both biological parents until age 18, compared to 70% of children to married parents

4. Postponing marriage A trend since 150 has been for first marriages to occur later in life. –1950: 20.3 years women, 22.8 men –2003: 25.3 women, 27.1 men Why? –Education –Economic insecurity –Birth control technology

5. Single Parenting About one in three families with children under 18 had just one parent in the household. About half of children live with one parent at some point before they reach age 18. Children raised in single-parent homes are at high risk of being poor.

6. Race and Family Families, Race, and Poverty –Moynihan Report: 1965 report that the African American family was in crisis due to a growing number of absent fathers. 20% of AA children were born to single mothers. In 2005, nearly 70%. –Not a family problem, but economic and race issues.

7. Interracial Families Interracial couples increased sevenfold from 1970 to 2000. In 2000, about 7 million Americans (2.5%) of the population checked more than one box for race and ethnicity. Estimates suggest a higher multiracial population.

8. Work and Child Care Conflicts with work and child care – 27% receive care from a parent, while another 26% receive care from a relative (53%, slightly over half). - Urban Institute, 2004

9. Divorce Divorce – almost 4/10 marriages end in divorce. Nearly 10% over 15 years of age divorced. Causes of Divorce –Individualism –Romantic love subsides –Women less dependent on men –Divorce more socially acceptable –Legally easier to get Remarriage – about 4/5 who divorce remarry Blended Families – families in which children have some combination of biological parents and stepparents

10. Gay and Lesbian Families Between 600,000 and 1 million gay couples As of 2006, Massachusetts only state in which same-sex marriage was legal. “Civil unions” recognized by Vermont, California, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Gay parenting - 250,000 gay couples in the U.S. are raising children.

11. High-Tech Reproduction In Vitro Fertilization – uniting egg and sperm in a laboratory –“Brave New Babies”/ “Brave New World” – ex: pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) Surrogate Motherhood – an arrangement by which one woman carries and bears a child for another woman.

12. Structural-Functional (family foundation) Family performs many vital tasks –Socialization –Regulation of sexual activity –Social placement –Material and emotional security

13. Social-Conflict (family and inequality) Family perpetuates inequality –Property and inheritance –Patriarchy –Race and ethnicity

14. Symbolic-Interaction (family and learning) How individuals share and experience family life –Building emotional bonds –Building a way to view the world and interact