"Family life is the foundation on which our communities, our society and our country are built." Yet in the UK, there are increasingly divergent views on what actually constitutes 'the family', and there is now widespread acceptance of different forms of family life: cohabitation, lone parenthood, same sex partnerships as well as heterosexual marriage. It is estimated that the total adult population will rise by 10% between 1996 and 2021, yet the total number of single and divorced people will both increase by around 50%. In comparison, it is predicted that the married population will fall by 10%. As a result, married people may become a minority of the adult population within the next 10 years.
The rapid structural changes in family life have been caused by a number of factors, including:.
• the declining influence of the Church and 'traditional' religion.
• increasing individualism.
• changing attitudes to marriage and its commitment.
• the consequences (often unintended) of divorce reforms.
• the wide availability of reliable contraception and abortion.
• the liberalisation of sexual and moral values and attitudes.
• changes in the roles of women.
• economic trends in female and male employment.
• increased mobility and the disintegration of community life.
• changes in legislation such as the introduction of Civil Partnership Act in 2005.
Marriage.
Marriage is still very popular today: in 2004, 66% of all dependent children in the UK were in families headed by a married couple, compared to 11% of dependent children in families headed by a cohabiting couple. Importantly, 70% of children born within marriage will live their entire childhood with both natural parents. Surveys reveal that most teenagers intend to marry – 9 out of 10 under 16 year olds want to 'tie the knot' in the future, and 9 out of 10 young women dream of a white wedding.
