Postmodern families are increasing in many parts of the world, with rise of divorce, remarriage, blended families, single parenthood, joint custody, adoption, domestic partnership and two career households. Evaluate how these affect the care of children

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Postmodern families are increasing in many parts of the world, with rise of divorce, remarriage, blended families, single parenthood, joint custody, adoption, domestic partnership and two career households. Evaluate how these affect the care of children.

In modern times, it is believed that nuclear family has the ideal setting to bring up a child. This is because nuclear family is seen to be self-sufficient to take care of the physical, emotional and psychological needs of the child. However, due to societal, cultural, political and economic influences, family structures are changing. Tightly bound nuclear families are giving way to the more fluid and open postmodern families (The Postmodern Family). Postmodern families come in many different forms which include single parenthood, remarriage, blended families, joint custody, adoption, dual career household, same-sex parenting etc. It is currently estimated that in the UK, one child in eight will experience life in a stepfamily by the age of 16 (Burr & Montgomery, 2003). In US, 49%of the marriages are divorced. In Singapore, over the period 1980 to 2003, the general divorce rate doubled from 3.8 per cent to 8 per cent. The 2000 census in California found that 33 percent of lesbian couples and 22 percent of gay couples had children (American Psychologist Association). More than half of all U.S. households with young children have two employed parents (Medical News Today). Therefore, child-care beliefs and practices have to evolve to meet the needs of children within changing families and societies (Modernization, urbanization, and nutritional care). In this essay, we will start with identifying the elements required to provide good childcare. We will then discuss the constraints faced by most postmodern families and lastly, how society and community can help postmodern parents with childcare.

Postmodern family may be seen affecting the care of the children. However, it should be emphasized that it is actually satisfying the needs of the children that plays a crucial role in childcare. Therefore, the physical, psychological and emotional needs of children must be clearly understood. Most of the time, these needs are mainly satisfied with the availability of time, money and quality of care. According to Murray, studies have shown that families with higher family income are largely unscathed by parental separation and divorce relative to young children of financially unstable, less educated mothers (American Psychologist Association). Thus, monetary terms have shown to be crucial to provide physically for the child. On the other hand, it is crucial for parents to spend sufficient time with the child and emphasize on positive interaction. This would allow bonds to be built and values in life can be conveyed more effectively.

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The structure of the family need not be a crucial determinant if the needs of the children can be well taken care of. A nuclear family structure may be preferred, but it should not be the only family structure that provides quality childcare. According to the psychologist in University of Virginia, (APA) they have conducted a much publicized 20-year study that the vast majority of children of divorce who do well. As adults, many still feel pain and sadness when they think about their parents’ divorce, but they still build productive and satisfied lives, and they do not experience clinical levels of depression, anxiety or other mental health disorders. This study shows that the ideal nuclear family is not necessary to develop well-adjusted children. In fact, nuclear families may also seek external help to meet the needs of the children. Despite the long-cherished belief that the nuclear family is independent and self-sustaining, most families with working parents depend on a network of care to manage work and family demands, according to research by Brandeis University sociologist, Karen Hansen. Thus, nuclear families may also be facing similar constraints as postmodern families. Therefore, it is possible for postmodern families to provide quality childcare.

Nevertheless, in most cases, on top of financial and time constraints, postmodern families are often subjected to other forms of pressure. They may be facing additional emotional and psychological pressure, especially so for the child. As a result, while the adults are focusing on making ends meet, the children may be neglected in terms of their psychological and emotional well being. In the case of a divorce, the divorced parents may undergo varying degree of disorganization, anger and may even lose sensitivity to the needs of their child. Divorced parents may have to spend time settling disputes, relocation and also custody of their child. These resulted in less time made available for the children. If remarriage occurs, it entails involvement of stepparents, and sometimes form a blended family. The children may have to face the new challenges of meeting the different and unfamiliar family members. Most single parents have to work. Dual career families have both parents working and thus, are not able to give their children full time care.

Childcare may have to move beyond the setting of full-time care in the home of postmodern families. Assistance from the community such as funding or accessible facilities to postmodern parents is needed. Shared parenting undertaken by the father, mother and various other caregivers, like extended family members, day care centers, domestic helpers, childcare institutions, is essential. This is made possible also due to the fact that children are able to form attachments with more than one person.

Meanwhile, extended family members are also often the most sought after assistants. Census figures from 2000 show that more than twice as many families rely on family members for child care as use day-care services [country]. (Brandeis). As in the case of the Xhosa families in South Africa, it is often the maternal grandmother who raises a child.

As the dual career families had increased in numbers, the dependence on domestic helpers in childcare is getting more common. In Singapore, dual career families had increased in numbers significantly, from 27.1% in 1980 to 39.8% in 1990. In America, statistics show there are some nine million pre-school children of which over one million are cared for by nannies. Nannies are required to sit for Competency Exam to enhance the healthy development of children and their families by promoting quality in-home childcare. With the emphasis of the quality care provided by the nannies and domestic helpers, care given is not any inferior.

Another avenue where most of the postmodern parents seek is professional child care centres. These child care centres may even provide educational opportunities that family members may not be able to offer. Child Development Centers and Systems provides member day care centers with curriculum for children (Brandeis University). For example, in the Nordic welfare states, the family has been described as an intimacy sanctuary and a zone of stability while daycare centers develop the child's capacity to exercise self-control with respect to affective behavior. The post-modern child is required to make continuous flexible adjustments between these spheres (Denick 1989).

In Singapore, student care centers has been an alternative day-care arrangement for school children between the ages of seven and 14. There are more than 200 such centers serving the community. About 120 of them are run by non-profit and voluntary organizations. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) provides fee assistance for children in non-profit student care centers. These are popular amongst parents who are unable to afford the fees. (Student Care Services)

Childcare institutions are preferred when the parents find difficulty to afford the care of their children. Though the experience of a family life is often preferred for the care of children, it is also observed that children in a institutional care do create familial ties among their peers and with staff who care for them (Burr & Montgomery, 2003). McKenzie’s research findings had also indicated that 86 per cent of the respondents in a children’s home had never or rarely wanted to be adopted. He also found that respondents had higher high school grades than their age group in the general population. According to Susan Hopkins (Burr & Montgomery, 2003), who researched Vietnamese children’s institution, children in orphanages may be better off economically than other children. Parents may take advantage of the services on offer at the orphanage and place the children there to give them the best opportunities in life.

In Scotland, a childcare institution, Aberlour, works with and for children, young people and families who need additional support, to promote their development and well being. Their family centers provide high quality care and early learning for pre school aged children. They provide support and advice for parents and specialized intensive work with more vulnerable children and their families. They also provide groups for primary school age children that focus on developing social skills and raising confidence and self-esteem. Their training and consultancy service improves quality standards in community based child care settings (The Work of Aberlour).

Members of the Community can also play a part in helping postmodern families to cope with their insufficiency in childcare. Charitable organizations can work towards providing educational and childcare trusts. Religious groups may come in to offer help just like the Cannosians in Singapore, they provide shelter and integrated services to young children and adolescents who are at risk or who lack adequate family support for their well being and development. Most of the children come from single-parent low-income families (The Cannosians in Singapore). In addition, companies with childcare provision in the vicinity would help working parents to be close by their children. In Denmark, foreigners are generally positively surprised by the Danish childcare system, the standard of the facilities and the possibility of having the children cared for in an institution close to where they live or work (Work in Denmark).

Government’s funding and program are certainly important. Examples of such programs include The daycare trust in UK which provide funding for childcare services for low-income families and ‘New Deal for Lone Parents’ which helps single parent whose youngest child is under 16, and are either not working or are working under 16 hours a week.

The above has illustrated how society and community can play their part in offering help to postmodern families in terms of childcare. However, with childcare shared between family and day care, new problems may arise. While some children thrive on dual socialization, others languish, unable to adjust to either environment or to the demands of daily transition from one environment to the other. The young child may be unable to form the necessary communication link between the two environments. Responsibilities may not be divided clearly between home and day-care center; as a result, neither may provide some crucial aspects of child rearing. For example, in the United States, neither the day-care center nor working parents perceive themselves being responsible for developing the child social and interaction skills (The Post-modern family). Though the physical well being of the children can be entrusted to third parties while postmodern parents are not available full time for the children, it is important still for the parents to be sensitive to the emotional and psychological needs of their children. Emphasis on bond building and instilling of moral values is crucial. As it is observed that children in postmodern families are expected to be competent to deal with all of life’s challenges at a much earlier age, it is also the postmodern parents’ responsibility to equip their children with the necessary values and skills.

In conclusion, quality of childcare depends on how well the physical, psychological and emotional needs of the children are being taken care of. Postmodern families are usually posed with constraints such as lack of time or finances. Though the family structure one engage in is solely by choice, it may seemed that postmodern parents should find their own solutions. However, it is such a growing phenomenon that aids from the societies, communities and governments are essential so that the needs of the postmodern children are not compromised.

References:

1) Rachael Burr and Heather Montgomery, P. (2003) ‘Family, Kinship and Beyond’, in Maybin & Woodhead, P.(ed.) Childhoods in Context, Chichester, John Wiley & Sons/ The Open University.

2) Medical News Today

3) Brandeis University

4) The Post-modern family