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Industrialization, Urbanization, and Family Change:
Industrialization Key Idea
Industrialization and urbanization changed family life, but sociologists debate whether it created nuclear families or transformed existing patterns over time.
Industrialization =shift from agricultural economies to industrial economies based on factories and mass production.
Began in Britain in the late 18th century.
Led to huge social changes:
Growth of factories and the need for workers in cities. This led to a decline of rural farming life
Major social change affected family structure.
How it Caused Urbanization:
Industrialization caused urbanization:
People moved from countryside to cities to work in factories.
Rapid city growth → crowded housing, social challenges.
Urbanization changed family life:
Needed smaller, mobile family units.
Less reliance on extended kin networks and extended families.
Parsons’ Functionalist View (evolutionary):
Industrial society needs a geographically mobile workforce.
Saw industrialization as a cause of family change.
Evolutionary theory of the family:
Families evolved from extended → nuclear.
Nuclear family = best fit for industrial society.
Nuclear family suits this since it is small and self-contained → easy to move.
Why nuclear family suited industrial society (Parsons)
Geographical mobility:
Jobs in factories → frequent moves.
Small nuclear families could move easily.
Social mobility:
Industrial society valued individual achievement.
Young couples could move away from parents to seek work.
Specialized roles:
Husband → instrumental role (breadwinner).
Wife → expressive role (emotional support, childcare).
Parsons saw these roles as functional and beneficial for society.
Criticisms of Parsons
Peter Laslett (1972):
Nuclear families were common before industrialization.
Majority of households were parents + children only.
Argued industrialization didn’t create the nuclear family but simply continued it.
Implication: Parsons’ evolutionary view is too simplistic.
Michael Anderson (1971):
Extended families survived industrialization.
Working-class families relied on kin for economic support in cities.
Found extended families still important during industrialization since working-class families often lived near kin.
Relied on extended family for:
Housing.
Childcare.
Financial support.
Industrialization sometimes strengthened extended family ties as they needed mutual support in tough urban conditions
Sociological Perspectives
Functionalist:
Nuclear family = best fit for modern society.
Marxist:
Family supports capitalism by reproducing obedient workers.
Feminist:
Reinforces gender inequality through separate roles.
Willmott and Young's Views:
Early Work: Extended Family in Early Industrial Society
Found evidence that:
Extended family networks were vital for working-class survival.
In Benthal Green (East London) 1950s:
Close-knit communities.
Regular contact with kin.
Mutual help (money, childcare, socializing).
Later Work: The Symmetrical Family
Later (1973) argued families evolved into symmetrical nuclear units especially among younger, geographically mobile families.
Symmetrical family:
Husband and wife roles more similar.
Shared housework and childcare.
Joint decision-making.
Leisure time spent together.
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Response to Criticisms of Parsons
Willmott and Young partly agreed that extended families were important in industrial cities.
Contradicted Parsons’ idea that industrialization killed off extended families instantly.
BUT argued over time:
Rising living standards.
Better housing.
Geographical mobility.
These factors encouraged nuclear families with joint roles.
The conclusion about Urbanization and Family Change
Urbanization linked to industrial jobs → people moved into cities.
Housing shortages → often shared with extended kin (Anderson’s evidence).
Over time, better housing + wages → encouraged nuclear families.
Parsons focused on nuclear family as functionally best.
Willmott and Young showed stages (from extended to symmetrical nuclear families).
Demographic Trends:
Demographic Trends: Overview
Demography = study of population characteristics such as birth rates, death rates, age structure.
Key Trends in Many Industrial Societies
Declining birth rates.
Declining death rates.
Smaller family sizes.
Increased life expectancy.
Ageing populations (higher proportion of elderly).
More births outside marriage.
Changing migration patterns (inflows/outflows).
Causes of Demographic Change
Economic development.
Improved health care.
Women’s education and employment.
Access to contraception.
Changing cultural attitudes.
Family Size and Birth Rates:
Decline in Birth Rates
Birth rate = number of live births per 1,000 population per year.
Major drop in many developed countries since 20th century.
Reasons for Falling Birth Rates
Contraception: widely available, socially accepted.
Women’s roles:
More education.
Paid employment → delay or limit children.
Cost of children:
Housing, education, childcare expensive.
Changing values:
Less pressure to have large families.
Focus on quality of parenting not quantity.
Cultural shift:
Less stigma for having few/no kids
Consequences of Smaller Families
Parents can invest more in each child (education, health).
More dual-earner households → need for childcare or DINK families (double income, no kids)
Less need for extended family support.
Ageing population → fewer young people to support elderly.
Sociologist Perspectives:
Functionalist:
Smaller families adapt to modern needs so better for the children's welfare
Marxist:
Economic pressure causes families to decrease in size
Feminists:
Women gained control over their bodies and reproduction so more choice and independence
Births Outside of Marriage:
Key Trend:
Increase in births outside formal marriage.
Includes births to:
Cohabiting couples.
Single parents.
Causes:
Changing social attitudes: less stigma attached.
Growth of cohabitation as an alternative to marriage.
Women’s independence → less economic need to marry.
Secularization → declining influence of religion on morality.
Decline of religion: fewer moral pressures to marry
Consequences:
More diverse family forms:
Single-parent families.
Reconstituted/step-families.
Policy changes:
Legal recognition of unmarried partners.
Child benefit regardless of marital status.
Debate about impacts on:
Children’s well-being.
Stability of relationships.
Sociological Perspectives
Functionalist
Concern about stability, socialization without marriage.
New Right
Sees rise of single-parent families as social problem.
Feminist
Values women’s choice and diversity in family forms.
Postmodernist
Celebrates diversity and individual choice.
Mortality and Life Expectancy
Definitions
Mortality rate = number of deaths in a population per 1,000 people per year.
Life expectancy = average number of years a person is expected to live.
Trends
Falling mortality rates:
Due to medical advances.
Better nutrition.
Improved sanitation and public health.
Rising life expectancy:
Many developed countries → average life 80+ years.
Women generally live longer than men.
Consequences of an Ageing Population
Consequences for Families
More multi-generational households.
Grandparent role expands:
Childcare help.
Emotional support.
Elderly relatives may need care:
Financial burden.
Time commitment for the people taking care of them.
Social and Economic Consequences
Increased healthcare costs.
Pension pressures → fewer workers per retiree.
Need for social care services.
Political influence of older voters.
Sociological Perspectives
Functionalist
Longer life → strengthens bonds between generations.
Ageing population creates new family roles (grandparenting); promotes family stability.
Marxist
Elderly can face poverty; strain on working class.
Economic burden falls on working class taxpayers; pensions underfunded.
Feminist
Elderly care often falls on women → gender inequality.
Women disproportionately provide unpaid elder care → reinforces inequality.
Postmodernist
Ageing population adds diversity to family forms; families adapt in varied ways.
NOTES DONE BY FARIDA SABET
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