Introduction
From the mid to late 20th Century there has been a visible and remarkable changes in family structures and dynamics (Cliquet, 2003). Most people experience society through their own early family experiences, and they grow up thinking that their family is the same as everyone else’s (Saggers and Sims, 2005). However, when entering school, the understanding and ideals of family structure changes realities when encountering; single-parent households, step- and blended families, extended families, same-sex families, childless households, parentless households and even the single person household where the strongest bonds are not with biological relations, but with intimate friendships (Saggers and Sims, 2005). The aim of this essay is to discuss how contemporary family and household structures have become more diverse. Looking at what was previously the ideal family structure and dynamics to what is understood today, what changes are there in modern families compared to previously accepted, and what are the causes of these changes.
Previous Family Structure Ideals Compared to Modern Circumstances
Family structures symbolize the numerous ways that cultures and
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Therefore, some family structural changes in South Africa are similar to that of western countries, which includes increase in divorce, delay in first marriage, the increase in remarriage, high infertility rates, decrease in childbearing numbers (Yaw and Heaton, 2007). There has been a decrease in polygyny. Another new development in family structures is that there is an increase in child headed households (Meintjes et al., 2009). This could be due to that children under 18 have lost their parents, or that there is a only the mother, and she is servery ill and the child needs to run the household (Meintjes et al.,