Assess the view that, despite recent changes in family life,

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Assess the view that, despite recent changes in family life, “the conventional nuclear family remains the norm” for families and households in Britain today.

Since the Industrial revelation the nuclear family has been recognised as the norm of British society and although there have been recent changes in family life, is the norm of Britain today still the conventional nuclear family?

The nuclear family has always been considered the norm in society ever since the industrial revolution but in society today the single parent family has had a dramatic increase from around 4% to 10% and no longer is the conventional nuclear family the powerful norm that it used to be.

The supposed value of the “traditional family unit” is that it provides social cohesion and stability because the family home is a place where two adults live and care for each other and for their children, where needs are met, moral values inculcated, and personal happiness ensured. However the modern sense of what it means to be a family is changing and the conventional nuclear family is thought by many to be a thing of the past. The Nuclear family clearly does have an important place in society, it is evident that in societies today, there are many variations of the family, and therefore it could be seen that the conventional family is out of date and unjust to modern society.

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Functionalists have always talked about the idea of the typical nuclear family, with two parents who are involved in a heterosexual relationship and their children and it has always been believed that this is to be society's ideal norm family for the general benefit of all involved. Murdock defined the family as "A social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation & reproduction. Murdock argued that the family performs 4 basic functions these are sexual, reproduction, economic and socialisation. He believed that without these functions society would breakdown. He suggested that the nuclear family is such an important social institution, ...

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