Priya kumariAIR 232 · CSE 2025 · 354 wordsTheir whole copy
Opening
In contemporary societies there is a rise in cohabitation, live-in relationships, single-parenting, neo-local households due to modern values of individualism and privacy, freedom etc.
Factors behind the Rise-
Body · points
(1). Dual career families - Where Both husband and wife are working makes it hard to live with in-laws. Ex: Neo-local households/families.
(2). Single-parenting - Rise of values of feminism, gay parents, lesbians have influenced single-parenting.
(3). Rise in 'Household' nature of families, where one person is living away from wider kin group due to job commitments.
(3) Separation between sexuality and Reproduction function - Ex: Cohabitation for fulfillment of sexuality without having responsibility for childbirth.
(4) Rise of modern work culture - Where employees gets little or no time for family is fuelling live-in relationships
(5) spread of education and work opportunity - have led to financial independence of women Ex: Choosing to delay marriages or choose to be a single-parent to escape patriarchal roles & responsibility
Implications (1) Social Implications - (i) Rise of individualism and decline in familial values or collectivism.
(ii) Weakening of traditional family structures - ex: Decline in joint families.
(iii) Rise in isolation, alienation - leading to high number of suicides among young women, men in modern societies.
(iv) Personal crises due to loss of wider kingroup, feeling of rootlessness.
(2) Economic implications - (i) High growth of consumerism due to rise in number of households, as:- ex) Consumption units - high no. of food deliveries.
(ii) Boost to capitalist nature of society - ex) - Alienation - often reduced by indulgence in luxury shopping social outings.
(iii) Rise of functional alternatives - ex) like creche facility for working womans, Social clubs etc
(iv) Decline in TFR - threatens economic growth in future, due to loss of productivity.
Close · a summary
Ex) TFR below 2 in many Indian States, due to rising preference for no child or single child or delayed marriages.
These trends poses significant challenges for Indian society which is based on strong social bonds of family and kinship. However, there are silver lines in form of rise of fictive kinship, functionally-separated but emotionally connected families in the contemporary society.