Is the 'family' in decline?

We begin the semester with arguments about changes in the family within North America over the past 60 years--changes, which, depending on your definitions, social location, and choice of statistics, are fairly uncontroversial empirically but hotly contested politically.  Through this debate, we get a glimpse of the theoretical perspectives, historical contexts, and issues facing families that will be addressed in more detail throughout the semester.  In essence, this debate sheds light on the messy entanglements of family life in North America today.  Over the course of the next 11 weeks, we will untangle its threads slowly to arrive, by the end of the semester, with some more clarity of thought with reference to its contours and implications. 

To better understand the family wars discussed in your readings, there a few points to raise in preparation for Monday.  First, this debate, framed and argued by prominent American sociologists, begs the question of generalizability.  While most of the critiques very aptly call into question the historical and class biases of Popenoe's analysis, our most immediate concern is whether these same patterns and same anxiety about the institution of the family are reflected in Canada.  The short answer to this (though we will complicate this later) is yes.  Check out these patterns:

These address massive changes in women's labor force participation, changes in co-habitation and children in the home (source:  Statistics Canada).  In 2001, 12% of Canadian families with children were stepfamilies, according to the General Social Survey.  In addition, divorce rates spiked in Canada after the 1968 and 1985 liberalization of divorce laws, but have declined since then.  Check out this fact sheet published by the Vanier Institute on the family:  Divorce rates--Canada

Second, where the U.S. and Canada do differ (again, broad strokes here), it is in the direction that Poponoe sees as indicative of further erosion:  in 2005, Canada was the third country to legalize same-sex marriage and thus expand the institution formerly associated with the "nuclear" family (based on a two-parent heterosexual couple) to include lesbian and gay families.  While Popenoe's definition of the family ostensibly includes these individuals, his lament about the erosion of the family certainly seems to paint this trend as part of the proverbial problem.  Additionally, Canada has a much more generous (though not as generous as Sweden!) welfare state, including healthcare, benefits to poor families, and parental leave policies which he argues are correlated with family decline. 

Finally, concern over the changes and challenges to the family have also been popularly debated (though perhaps not as hotly) here.  The Vanier Institute, dedicated to providing leadership on assessing trends and advocating policies for the Canadian family, reflects these concerns.  It is perhaps not surprising that this is the case; our experience and understanding of the family is both a social and political matter as well as an intensely emotional and personal one.  These shifts are bound to raise questions and anxieties irrespective of political commitments and convictions.  Stacey, Cowan, Coontz, and Hochschild certainly reflect this, though they favor different explanations for changes within the family and thus recommendations for research and/or policy.     

Please label your posts with your name and "Is the family in decline?"  See you Monday.

Anna-Liisa