May 6, 2004 Economic Issues and Problems V: Diversity, Summing Up Read: Stack: 107-152 I. It is clear the title of this course is a myth A. There is no “Contemporary American Family”: no family type that characterizes most families B. There isn’t even a single ideal of “family” held by all Americans C. Although all families make efforts to meet their needs for: 1. Reproduction 2. Marital sexuality 3. Nurturance 4. Economic cooperation 5. Affection 6. Protection 7. Meaning D. They do it in different ways E. Lecture today concerned with the role of unequal access to power and resources in producing diversity II. Overview of changes that produce diversity in families A. Common types of changes in the past 1. Internal factors a. Families changed mainly due to the domestic cycles (Skolnick’s “life course”): deaths, births 2. External factors a. Wars, economic depressions, etc. b. Opportunities that encouraged mobility, migration 1) For example, the 1862 Homestead Act gave public land (160 acres) to settlers B. Today: greater variety of types of families2 1. Traditionally families were formed through a. Blood b. Marriage c. Adoption 2. New ways to form families have appeared on the scene a. Groups of unrelated people who call themselves “family” b. Or lesbian and gay couples who see themselves as almost the same as a married couple, but cannot marry c. Finally, cohabitation with or without children 1) Which, after 7 years would legally turn into “common-law marriage” 2) But “living together” is now an institution in itself, not necessarily leading to eventual marriage 3) In Denmark, when couples begin to live together they sometimes put classified announcements in the paper informing people that they do not intend to marry a) We’re not there yet b) Remember the newspaper clipping about high rates of N. European couples living together? C. Note, however, that the original meaning of the term “family” when it emerged in late 14th century England 1. Referred to a household under a head, including servants or slaves 2. This notion of family defined by co-residence, not kinship, continued till the early 19th century III. What kinds of diversity have we discussed so far in the course? A. Structural diversity31. “Traditional” kinds of structural diversity that result from departures from the ideal a. Stepfamilies b. Single-parent families c. These are not new forms d. However, those resulting from divorce (not death) are much more prevalent e. Remember Nancy Cott’s discussion of divorce in colonial America 17th and 18th centuries? 2. Older adults and their families a. Not new, there’s just far more of them now b. Topic of our last class B. New kinds of structural diversity? 1. Gays and lesbians raising children a. Various legal changes have occurred 1) Previously only heterosexual, married adults had protected legal ties to each other and their children b. Such family types could not develop until the notion of gay and lesbian identity developed in the early 20th century c. Earlier, people did have desires and did engage in erotic behavior with a person of the same sex 1) But the notion of gay/lesbian identity didn’t exist 2) So, certainly couldn’t have something like a gay family d. Other factors prevented such families from appearing, too, of course 1) Earlier, the family economy pretty much required that the couple be composed of a man and a woman4 2) Homosexuality is illegal 3) Many people see homosexuality as immoral 2. Shifts in how marriage articulates with family a. Defined here as organizing the intergenerational relationships, obligations, and rights legally and socially sanctioned b. Marriage has come to organize a smaller and smaller portion of the lives of people in all sections of the population 1) In this country the age at first marriage has reached a world historic high for women, and tied its previous high of 1890 for men c. Marriage is simply less central to family formation and the organization of interpersonal ties than ever before d. With so many unwed parents, it’s important to think: should obligations to children be easier to break if one has not entered into, or has dissolved a formal legal contract with another adult? 1) Parents are legally required to support their children no matter what their marital status or intention 2) It is quite clear that one major role of marriage has to do with obligations and rights to the next generation 3) But increasingly questions are asked regarding whether health benefits, pensions, and other such rights should be contingent on a legally sanctioned sexual connection with another person e. And at the end of life: a person who reaches age 60 can expect to live another 27 years; unlikely to be cared for during all this time by a marriage partner C. Family diversity according to gender roles 1. Patriarchal model of a male-breadwinner, a dependent female-homemaker a. Being male typically has more privilege than being female5b. And until very recently, significantly different levels of protections, rights, responsibilities as defined by law assigned to men and women c. Although differences have been greatly reduced: 1) Especially the de jure ones 2) The de facto ones are still strong 3) Discuss: meaning of these terms? 2. “Dual-earner,” “co-provider”…the changes in the very words are clues D. And of course ethnic diversity IV. Social class A. Concept of Socioeconomic status (SES)1 1. “Class” implies discrete categories of people 2. Stratified 3. Concepts of “class” and “caste” a. Both: you’re born into them b. A “class-based” society provides possibility of mobility for individuals and families 1) Both up and down (the reading by Rubin) 4. But unlike earlier periods, particularly in Europe a. We can’t sort people into one or another class; there aren’t discrete groups 5. Multiple variables contribute to one’s class position a. Discuss: b. Education, income, family background, occupation, attitudes 1 Some of this discussion from Stephen A. Anderson and Ronald M. Sabatelli, 2003, Family Interaction: A