CHANGES IN THE FAMILY

Institutions change both in structure and function. Like other institutions, the family
must adaptitself to the demands of new cultural conditions. A number of significant
changes in family structureand functions are taking place.Factors that have brought
about changes in the family are:

(1) industrialization,

(2)urbanization,
(3) democratic ideals and

(4) religious views

.Industrialization. Industrialization brought about three consequences which are

significant for thefamily:

a.The factory system dispersed the employment of family members and thus broke up
the family asa working unit

.b.The primary basis of operation, through which each worker received his own wages;
tended tosupport individualism.

c.The enormous increase in the number and variety of available jobs released women
from theireconomic dependence of men.

Urbanization.

When a large number of people live in close proximity, a certain degree

ofhomogeneity in the values and the experiences of these people occur. Although they
came fromvarious diverse cultural backgrounds, their differences tend to disappear
under the influence ofurbanization.

Democratic Ideals.The ideas of freedom and equality of opportunity supplanted the

traditionalautocratic doctrines of individual or class privilege. The democratic way life
found acceptance and theconcept of paternal authority and the submission of women
and children has to give way to moreequalitarian practices.Religious Views.

The religious attitude toward sex and the family has undergone change.
Today,companionship and sex expression are recognized as basic purpose of marriage
together with thebringing up and rearing of children. Responsible parenthood is
recognized and the practice of familyplanning is allowed within the certain limitations,
even by the Roman Catholic Church. On the wholethe trend toady is toward limiting the
number of children and spacing their arrival.

RESULTING CHANGES IN THE FAMILY DUE TO RAPID CHANGES IN THE

NEWMILLENNIUM

In the new millennium, the changes in the family have been brought by rapid
developments.These include:
1.Economic changes.

The family as an independent economic unit has changed drastically. Whensociety was
predominantly agricultural, families produced what they needed and every memberhas
a definite assignment in the productive enterprise. Families, even those living in the
villagesand towns, worked together as a unit on a farm, in the home, to make a living for
the whole family.

2.More democratic relationship.

The closeness of family ties is proverbial, a factor responsible forthe continuous survival
f the family. The patriarchal family is universal because of its ability tomaintain cohesion
and unity