To What Extent Would Sociologists Say the Nuclear Family Is Still the Norm Today?

Today sociologists in Britain would not agree that nuclear families are the norm. This is because families aren’t like what they used to be. In the nuclear families today, the roles of the mother and father are no longer segregated conjugal roles. In the nuclear family today roles are changing and developing into integrated conjugal roles. Partners are becoming more egalitarian which is leading to the nuclear symmetrical family. Due to the symmetrical family developing socialists believe the idea of the ‘new man’. A man that shares housework and the responsibility of the children. There has been a dramatic increase in divorce over the last decade. The rise in divorce has been caused by many things, for example: the increase in lone parent families, teenage mothers and domestic violence. Instead of the nuclear family, other types of families can be said to becoming the norm. For example, reconstituted families are increase in Britain due to the rise in divorce. Cohabitation and single sex families have all started to become the norm in Britain today. Decades ago it was very rare to see any other family than a nuclear family. In Britain today there is much more diversity in families- this has party been caused by the different ethnic group population that are now living here in Britain- such as the: Asian families and the Afro Caribbean.
However, on the other hand the nuclear family is still very popular in Britain today. The traditional nuclear family is always portrayed as the norm in Britain. Despite all the new family diversity, the traditional nuclear family hasn’t gone anywhere, it is still very