A. Definition of Family
In the context
of human society, a family (from Latin: familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized
birth), affinity (by marriage or other relationship), or co-residence
(as implied by the etymology of the English word "family" from
Latin familia 'family servants, domestics collectively, the
servants in a household,' thus also 'members of a household, the estate,
property; the household, including relatives and servants,' abstract noun
formed from famulus 'servant, slave or some combination of
these. Members of the immediate family may include spouses,
parents, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. Members of the extended family
may include grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces,
and siblings-in-law. Sometimes these are also considered members of the
immediate family, depending on an individual's specific relationship with them.
In most societies, the family is
the principal institution for the socialization of children. As the
basic unit for raising children, anthropologists generally classify
most family organizations as matrifocal (a mother and her children);
conjugal (a wife, her husband, and children, also called the nuclear
family); avuncular (for example, a grandparent, a brother, his
sister, and her children); or extended(parents and children co-reside with
other members of one parent's family). Sexual relations among the members are
regulated by rules concerning incest such as the incest taboo.
B. Families and Household in the UK: 2016
In 2016
there were 18.9 million families in the UK. There were 12.7 million married or
civil partner couple families in the UK in 2016. This was the most common type
of family. Cohabiting couple families were the fastest growing family type
between 1996 and 2016, more than doubling from 1.5 million families to 3.3
million families. In 2016, around 25% of young adults aged 20 to 34 were living
with their parents, increasing from 21% in 1996, around 7.7 million people
lived alone in the UK, the majority were women.
C. Types
of Family in UK
There are four types of family in United Kingdom:
1. Nuclear Family
Nuclear Family is also known as the “cereal packet” family.
This is the family is the one family which consists of a biological mother,
father and their child/children. It has two generation of family members living
together, which is the mother and the father and the second generation would be
their children’s.
2. Reconstituted Family
Reconstituted Family is the one which is often referred to a
‘step family”. This type of this family is still consists as a family with
children’s although one of the parents may be a social parents, meaning might
not be their biological parents. This might usually happens if one of their
parents died or due to the separation or divorce.
3. Lone Parents
Lone Parent (single parent) is a parent, not living with a
spouse or partner that has responsibilities in raising the child or children.
Historically, death of a partner was major cause of single parenting. Single
parenting can result from separation, death, child abuse/neglect or divorce of
a couple with children.
4. Extended Family
Extended Family is which contains relative beyond the
nuclear power family. In many cultures such as in those of many of the Asians,
Africans, Eastern Europeans, extended families are the basic family unit. These
families include in one household, near relatives in addition to an immediate
family. A group of relatives, such as those of three generations living
together.
D. Changing Values and Norms of the British Family
The family in Britain is changing. The once typical British family headed by
two parents has undergone substantial changes during the twentieth century. In
particular there has been a rise in the number of single-person households,
which increased from 18 to 29 per cent of all households between 1971 and 2002.
By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be more single people than
married people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially unacceptable in
Britain.
In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult,
expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are changing.
Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together (cohabit)
without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will eventually get
married. People married before they had children, but now about 40% of children
in Britain are born to unmarried (cohabiting) parents. In 2000, around a
quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in
Great Britain. Cohabiting couples are also starting families without first
being married. Before 1960 this was very unusual, but in 2001 around 23 per
cent of births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.
People
are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not want to
have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and put off
having a baby until late thirties. The number of single-parent families is
increasing. This is mainly due to more marriages ending in divorce, but some
women are also choosing to have children as lone parents without being married.
E. British Royal Family
A family
is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or
a lone parent, with at least one child, who live at the same address. Children
may be dependent or non-dependent. Dependent children are those aged under 16
living with at least one parent, or aged 16 to 18 in full-time education,
excluding all children who have a spouse, partner or child living in the household.
A household is one person living
alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same
address who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room or dining
area. A household can consist of more than one family, or no families in the
case of a group of unrelated people.
The British
royal family comprises Queen Elizabeth II and her close
relations. There is no strict legal or formal definition of who is or is not a
member of the British royal family. Those who at the time are entitled to
the style His or Her Royal Highness (HRH), and any styled His or
Her Majesty (HM), are normally considered members, including those so styled
before the beginning of the current monarch's reign. By this criterion, a list
of the current royal family will usually include the monarch, the children and
male-line grandchildren of the monarch and previous monarchs, the children of
the eldest son of the Prince of Wales, and all their current or widowed
spouses.
Some members of the royal family have official
residences named as the places from which announcements are made in
the Court Circular about official engagements they have carried out.
The state duties and staff of some members of the royal family are funded from
a parliamentary annuity, the amount of which is fully refunded by the Queen to
the Treasury.
Since 1917, when King George V changed
the name of the royal house from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, members of the
royal family belong, either by birth or by marriage, to the House of
Windsor. Senior titled members of the royal family do not usually use
a surname, although since 1960 Mountbatten-Windsor,
incorporating Prince Philip's adopted surname of Mountbatten, has
been prescribed as a surname for Elizabeth II's direct descendants who do not
have royal styles and titles, and it has sometimes been used when required for
those who do have such titles. The royal family are regarded as British
cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the family among a group
of people that they most associated with UK culture.
This is a list of members of the royal family :
1. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (the monarch and
her husband)
2. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (the
Queen's son and daughter-in-law)
3. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (the Queen's
grandson and grand daughter-in-law)
4. Prince George of Cambridge (the Queen's great-grandson)
5. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (the Queen's great-grand daughter)
6. Prince Louis of Cambridge (the Queen's great-grandson)
7. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (the Queen's grandson
and grand daughter-in-law)
8. The Princess Royal (the Queen's daughter)
9. The Duke of York (the Queen's son)
10. Princess Beatrice of York (the Queen's grand daughter)
11. Princess Eugenie (the Queen's granddaughter)
12. The Earl and Countess of Wessex (the Queen's son
and daughter-in-law)
13. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (the Queen's
cousin and cousin-in-law)
14. The Duke and Duchess of Kent (the Queen's cousin
and cousin-in-law)
15. Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (the Queen's
cousin)
16. Prince and Princess Michael of Kent (the Queen's cousin
and cousin-in-law)
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_royal_family
