Revision summary
Developed societies show plural family forms beyond the lifelong conjugal pair. Dual-earner, lone-parent, step, same-sex, cohabiting, and transnational types are central. Goode’s thesis was incomplete; Beck describes negotiated biographies. Class and gendered care still structure the new forms. Choice and instability must not be confused.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Developed societies still have households of kin, but the conjugal, lifelong, two-parent form is no longer the only recognised type. New forms are legal and statistical facts, not only lifestyles.
Body
What is new
- Dual-earner and dual-career couples, with paid care filling gaps that Ann Oakley made visible as housework.
- Lone-parent families, reconstituted or step-families after divorce, and delayed or child-free partnerships.
- Same-sex marriage and parenting where law has moved.
- Living apart together, cohabitation without marriage, and chosen families of friends.
- Transnational families of migrants who parent by remittance and screen.
Discussion
- William Goode’s conjugal family was a halfway type, not the end of history.
- Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim described the negotiated, individualised biography of love.
- Class still stratifies who can afford these forms. Poor households may look “new” through instability rather than choice.
Continuities
- Gendered care often survives inside the new forms.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD OLD[Conjugal lifelong type] --> NEW[Plural forms] NEW --> DE[Dual earner] NEW --> LP[Lone parent step] NEW --> SS[Same-sex cohabit LAT] NEW --> TN[Transnational]
Conclusion
New forms in developed societies include dual-earner, lone-parent, reconstituted, same-sex, cohabiting, and transnational families. They pluralise the household. They do not abolish care inequality or class.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Distinguish between family and household with reference to the concept of development of the household.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2018 · Q6(b)). View answer →
-
Is the family disappearing?
The one legal form is less monopolistic. Kin and care continue in other shapes.
-
Are these forms only Western?
They densified in rich welfare and legal regimes. Indian metros show partial echoes.
More from this topic
Q4(a) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks · Solution
Give an account of the recent trends of marriage in the Indian context. How are these different from traditional practices?
Systems of Kinship
Traditional Indian marriage was typically early, arranged, caste-endogamous and family-led. Regional and religious diversity always qualified the textbook joint-family model. Recent trends include later age, schooling, online matching, dual earners and more public exit options. Endogamy and parental ratification persist inside modern forms such as matrimonial apps. Inter-caste, live-in and queer unions are visible but still minority or legally incomplete. The story is hybridisation of alliance, not a clean replacement by Western companionate marriage.
Q8(a) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks · Solution
Discuss the changing nature of kinship relations in the contemporary world.
Systems of Kinship
Kinship organises descent, marriage, and care; it is stretching, not dying. Alliance and caste endogamy persist beside delayed marriage and chosen intimacy. Migration, IVF, and law split biological and social parenthood. Census and NFHS show mixed households. COVID made kin the shock-absorber of care and shelter.
Q7(a) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks · Solution
Explain how the pattern of patriarchy is being altered in a family and at the workplace in the present context.
Systems of Kinship
Patriarchy is male dominance across household and work; it can change form. Family: more dual earning and law, still care, honour, and NFHS violence. Workplace: some professions and SHGs, still informal segregation. WFH and lockdown reorganised rather than ended the double day. Walby’s public patriarchy is the best short map.