About the Book: Part 1 - Families and Change

CHAPTER 1: Families As We Were
At the turn of the 20th century families throughout the world shared many common characteristics regardless of national or cultural differences. Families were mostly multi-generational and patriarchal. Children were productive members of the family; elders were respected and their experience and guidance was actively sought. Young men took up the family livelihood; children followed in the footsteps of parents; marriages for both boys and girls, were approved, if not arranged, by parents. By the commencement of the 21st Century, family living arrangements, livelihoods and relationships had been profoundly altered. Roles and responsibilities of grandparents, mothers, fathers and children have shifted dramatically.

• Families of Japanese fruit growers, Missouri farmers and a mechanic in Bamako, Mali discuss the way things were and how they have, and are, changing.
  
  

CHAPTER 2: Living Together, Growing Apart
The trend toward smaller, nuclear, families is a worldwide phenomenon. Families may wish to remain in multi-generational groups but are unable to do so due a range of constraints such as housing, migration, urbanization, site of employment, transportation or environmental limitations. Increasingly, young couples are inclined to choose privacy and autonomy over the support of the larger family group. Yet, when the extended family breaks up, generations are separated. Children are deprived of multiple adult relatives; elders are more inclined to live alone. How do families adjust to this trend? What are the consequences for elders and children? How do nuclear families express the benefits or disadvantages of living separated from the larger family group?

• Families of an Egyptian tailor, Thai entrepreneurs and Salvadoran farmers discuss evolving family living arrangements.
  
  

Foreword | Introduction | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Conclusion