Families are considered the fundamental units of any society. All families all over the world are subjected to many changes following the many dynamic processes occurring, which encourage society to accept new things and ideas. The process which results in changes within families includes culture loss which results from adopting new cultural methods from other families, technological inventions which involve new sources of energy, new machines, advanced transportation means, and frivolous things like dressing styles and other fashion. However, there are those, which are common.
The most notable changes in families include changes in the dress fashions, ways of living, and a drastic change in birth rate, among others. Lifestyles of families are changing significantly while family ties are gradually losing their strength. The original extended family organization is slowly being replaced by nuclear families consisting of children and parents only. Dobson (2000) states, “Children’s discipline, which should be a responsibility of all society members, now belongs to parents only” (p.32). Globalization stands out as the root cause of these changes.
Many of these family changes have come because of the result of globalization, which has occurred mainly due to the sophisticated technology available in the current world. Joseph (2003) asserts, “…globalization has brought both positive and negative changes in the families” (p.43). For instance, television has reduced the interaction time between families as most family members spend their time watching television. It has also exposed the family members mostly children to new information and systems making them grow at a fast rate becoming more curious about learning new things. Internet and many telecommunication means have made the lives of family members easy by providing easy communication methods that connect all the family members around the world. There exist ways through which cultures resist social changes.
Cultures Resist Social Change
The processes through which cultures resist social changes include both habits and the combination of some cultural traits. Despite the high rate of globalization, many cultures can resist many social changes by sticking to their strong cultural practices and beliefs. The older people in the society are very reluctant to change and do not want to replace or let go of even a single trait of their culture. Culture also uses habitual behaviors, which aids in providing emotional security to all members despite the threatening changes occurring in the current world. Religion is also used by many cultures as a way of retaining traditional ways through providing strong moral support and moral justifications. For instance, countries guided by Islamic law like Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, to quote a few, have been able to retain their cultural practices despite the many globalization challenges. They strictly stick to the laws and beliefs. African families to are able to maintain most of their traditional customs and beliefs especially in marriages, lifestyles, traditional foods, African festivals and ceremonies, and the inheritance of family properties. On the other hand, European and North American families have been able to maintain the defined roles of both women and men despite the many challenges. Families from both the developing and the developed countries depict a difference in their cultures.
Families in Two Cultures
There are many disparities between families in developed countries and families in developing countries. Families from developed countries have lower rates than families from developing cultures. The claim comes because of factors like the availability of family planning drugs and other related services, women’s position in the society, level of education, traditional believes and practices, lifestyles, among others.
Developed nations’ families have reduced rates of infant mortality as compared to developing nations’ families. This is because of the ease of getting medical care which ensures that children are delivered in a professional way getting all the nutrition and medication they want unlike the situation in the developing countries. The gender roles in both cultures are very different in that the developing countries have retained the primitive roles of the genders where women have been assigned the duty of giving birth and rearing children whereas the cultures from the developed countries have undergone many changes with women having roles similar to those of men.
However, “… many changes are occurring in both types of families mainly in the roles of the different genders” (Jane, 1994, p.98). The developing families birth rates have started to reduce drastically as the family members have become more enlightened and family planning means have become accessible. Parenting has changed a lot in the developing countries families as the “… parenting role has been seen as a role of both parents but not the role of mothers only” (Presser, 2003, p.110). Families in the developed world have undergone many changes in childbearing because of the sophisticated means of giving birth using current technology. Parenting has also improved by having many ways of cater and rearing children like the centers for daycare.
The financial situations of the families in both developing and developed cultures affect their lifestyles largely. The economic system in the world limits the accessibility of many services depending on the families’ economic position. The able families have more access to many expensive goods and services as compared to the unable. The economic systems of all countries in the world have very distinct consumer goods and services, targeting the different classes of the families depending on their financial capabilities. However, two key problems stand out in families around the world.
Two major problems facing families around the world
There are many problems faced by the current world families. However, the two of them stand out well. Firstly, economic hardships as the price of commodities escalate at an alarming rate making the family life hard in trying to meet the basic requirements. Presser (2003) argues, “…that the growth in women’s employment, technological change, and other demographic changes over the past thirty years gave rise to the growing demand for late-shift and weekend employment in the service sector” (p.114). Parents are forced to work for extra hours trying to make their ends meet.
Secondly, the neglecting of parent role where many parents have put their responsibilities into something or someone else by not spending time to raise their children. Children do not share a lot of time with parents, instead they are left to play many video games. Others are taken to daycare centers meeting their parents a few minutes a day. Solution to these problems is to have good financial strategies aimed at making economical use of the entire family resources. An efficient saving plan to cater for all the family needs should be implemented and parents are advised to secure more time for their children. Family life and policy depict a relationship.
The relationship between family policy and family life
There exist a strong relationship between family life and family policy. “Many family policies aim at improving the family life of all members of any society” (Klaus, 2002, p.214). Family life has tremendously changed over the years due to the breakage of the original traditional family setup, change in working environment, and effects of globalization that has necessitated the need for more family policies as new and complicated social risks emerge. In some cultures, “…official policies enacted by their governments have impacted a lot on the families” (Anne, 1999, p.96). For instance, in the developing countries, schemes for social protection have insufficient capacity to cater for all the challenges ongoing in these countries thus influencing negatively to the lifestyles of the families. Also, many families in the developing nations are unable to adopt to their programs on social security introduced by their governments due to the lack of finances and lack of enlighten on these issues. Many governments in developed nations such as the U.S and the U.K have made family lives hard due to many requirements, which have been put in place. In general, Family policies are very helpful to the societies as they enable the family members to cope up with many challenges especially helping the parents to deal with the burden of caring for their children while pursuing their careers at the same time.
Reference List
Anne, H. (1999). The State and the Family. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.
Dobson, J. (2000). The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide. Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publisher. Print.
Jane, L. (1994). Women and Social Policies in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishers. Print.
Joseph, E. (2003). Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: Norton & Company. Print.
Klaus, S. (2002). Family Life and Family Policies in Europe: Problems and Issues in Comparative Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press. Print.
Presser, H. (2003). Working in a 24/7 Economy: Challenges for American Families. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Print.