Family Relationships Test 1 05 15 2015 What is a family Today more child free married couples multigenerational families unmarried adults who cohabit and who sometimes have children stepparents who stepchildren live with them only part time and gay and lesbian partnerships are increasing More traditional type of family husband wife and children all living together is declining Legal vs Social Definitions US Census Bureau defines family as two or more people living together who are related by birth marriage or adoption Heterosexual or homosexual unmarried partners are excluded from this definition People argue the government should expand this definition as it does not correctly reflect the reality of the rich diversity of family in life in our society Leading scholarly journal about families published by the national council on family relations changed its name from the journal or marriage and the family to the journal of marriage and family deleting the second the reflecting the growing recognition that families come in many forms Family in this text is a relationship by blood marriage or affection in which members may cooperate economically may care for children and may consider their identity to be intimately connected to the larger group o It can include a family of orientation family born into and a family of procreation make through marriage partnering and of parenthood o This text includes fictive kin in the definition of family Which is non relatives whose bond are strong and intimate such as the relationship shared between unmarried homosexual or heterosexual partners or very close friends Fictive kin provide important support for individuals including financial assistance or help through life transitions Routinely passed over for critical benefits that more traditional family members have come to expect such as health insurance or tax advantages Why are definitions so important How society defines a family has important consequences with respect to rights including access to a spouses or partners social security benefits pensions and health insurance o Ex unmarried partners cant file jointly on federal taxes same with health insurance If an unmarried couple with one employed partner has children the children may be covered but the partner may be excluded These decisions involve billions dollars in employer and government health benefits and affect millions of adults and children each year Special membership discounts to wide variety of organizations are available to families but not to people who are roommates or friends Domestic Partner Benefits Unmarried adults in long term committed relationships are routinely denied important benefits such as spousal health insurance or dental care bereavement leave relocation benefits or the benefit of filing joint tax returns or receiving social security Employers are not seeing that it may not only be bad for families but bad for business More than 9 300 employers have chosen to offer domestic partner benefits to an employees unmarried partner whether of the same or opposite sex These employers include nearly 300 fortune 500 companies along with city country and state agencies Offer benefits to domestic partners because many believe that offering benefits to their employees legal married partners but not non legal married partners discriminates on the bases of sexual orientation and or martial status Because same sex couples cannot legally marry in most states their partners have traditionally been excluded from receiving benefits on the grounds that they are not part of an employees legal family 2nd reason is competition in todays labor market to attract and retain high quality diverse workforce employers must offer a comprehensive benefit package and offering domestic partner benefits is a sound business practice Several states have passed or considering passing laws that establish domestic partnerships for committed same sex couples These laws provide all of the same state granted privileges immunities rights benefits and responsibilities for same sex couples entering a domestic partnership that are granted to married couples Other states are restricting these benefits Functions of Families All societies have marriage an institutional arrangement between persons to publicly recognize social and intimate bonds Clear norms that specify who is eligible to marry to whom and how many people an individual can marry what the marriage ceremony should be like and how married persons should behave Anthropologist William Stephens provided a broad definition of marriage o 1 Socially legitimate sexual inion o 2 Begun with a public announcement o 3 Undertaken with some idea of permanence o 4 Assumed with a more or less explicit marriage contract that spells out reciprocal obligations between spouses and between spouses and their children Marriages and families in all cultures include such functions o A Regulation of Sexual Behavior Every culture regulates sexual behavior including who can have sex with whom and under what circumstances One universal regulation is the incest taboo that forbids sexual activity and marriage among close family members Definition of a close family member differs but includes at least parents and their children and siblings Incest taboo reduces the chance of inherit genetic abnormalities and it forges broader alliances by requiring marriage outside of the inner family circle o B Reproducing and Socializing Children Each society must produce new members and ensure socialization teaching children rules expectations and culture of that society Society prefers that reproduction occur within an established family rather than with random unrelated partners so that birth parents will be responsible for socializing children Invention of agriculture made it possible for people to own property or to obtain a surplus beyond what they needed for survival Thus became important to identify heirs Monogamy ensured that men would know who their heirs were without monogamy paternity was uncertain o C Property and Inheritance o D Economic Cooperation Family is the group responsible for providing its members with food shelter clothing and other basic necessities Family works together to provide everything and often a gendered division of labor although women constitutes male tasks and female tasks varies from one society to the next o E Social Placement Status Roles Families give members a social identity and position find their
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