Family is the combination of love. Although the function or the purpose of family is similar around the world, family structure differs significantly from society to society. As a result, family structure of the United Kingdom and China has a huge difference. In generally, families are categorized into three types according to their structures, nuclear family, extended family and single-parent. With the development of society, the structure of family has undergone changes. This essay will outline the family structure both in the UK and China, namely the traditional and current family structure in the UK, the conventional and present family structure in China, and finally the comparison of family structure between the UK and China.
In ancient China, the main family structure is extended family, which is a big family that consists of three of even more generations related by blood or marriage living in the same home. Chinese people would live together and take care of the elder people and children. While in the modern China, nuclear family is becoming more and more popular and extended family disappeared gradually. Because of the “one child policy” in China, so the normal form of nuclear family is “4-2-1”, 4 means the parents and parents-in-law, 2 represents the husband and wife, and 1 is the only one child.
In contrast, nuclear family is the major traditional British family structure,rather than the extended family. They usually have one or two children and the mother usually stay at home to take consideration of their children. With the economy developed and gender equality in nowadays, many women seek for a job and can earn their own bread. As women become more independent and rights than before, they can choose to divorce when met some family problem. It is reported that Britain has one of the highest divorce rates in Western Europe. As a result, single-parent takes up the major family structure.
In conclusion,