Structural Changes in Families

 Structural changes in families have been occurring for many years and in some cases many of these types of family structures have been the norm. With the advent of financial status, lifestyle, individual needs, household needs, abusive situations and society disasters and necessities, the family structure is now made up of single families and same sex marriages and cohorts of mixed family members and homes where several families often live together.

During the twentieth century families underwent significant shifts in structure. Extended kin and unrelated people began living within a family structure during Federation. Following World War 11 the nuclear family was made up of mother, father, and siblings with no extended family members. This is still the case today, however social change has seen the increasing diversity in the children of family structures not only in Australia, but on a global scale. Today we see heterosexual and homosexuals or same sex partners living in blended families, whereas decades ago many of these terms were unheard of and often termed an irrelevant part of family existence with stigmas attached.

Families just didn’t want to know about a son or daughter who preferred the company of their own gender. Times have changed and what seemed unfair for many is slowly becoming part of society on an outward front. People now adays refer to "coming out" relating to two people of the same sex into society as a couple. But still for much homosexuality is taboo and many people believe as did my ancestors that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. This has its merits when I think about it because only men and women can produce a child. Yet I also agree with the argument that people should be able to love who they want. This allows stability and more care often between two people who might be more content with each other than their next-door neighbors husband and wife.

The benefits for many of these same sex marriages and childless couples comes from the fall out of a husband-and-wife situation for whatever reason of which they can be varied; financial, legal, or they have just grown apart and prefer their separate path in life. This is all change and change is a good thing, because it involves altering a stagnant and often floundering situation for many in society as we see so readily with gay marriages, or same sex marriages and divorced couples or feuding/domestic violence. Many institutions and countries won't allow same sex marriages to adopt or even marry. In some countries it is a crime to kiss in public or on the beach. This type of governance is strict, but it does tend to maintain a similar nuclear family structure, which is what my parents grew up in. But life moves on and so does society and people within it. I don’t always go to church, but I treat people the way that I would like to be treated; to be a Christian type of person in my deeds throughout life and being honest and reliable and a loyal servant to the establishment and to work hard at whatever I do to the best of my ability.