Family through the years: 1990’s
Wednesday, May 27th, 2015
The 1990’s lifestyle
In the 1990’s marriage rates had fallen whilst, divorce had risen. 1990’s was a decade that saw rapid change, popular culture was becoming increasingly popular along with new gadgets for adults and children. Life seemed to sway away from the ‘traditional’ family life and this was becoming normal. Women were also use to the way in which society was changing and was becoming more or less as equal as men.
1990 Marriage rate: 331,150
1990 Divorce rate: 153,386
Source: www.theguardian.com/news
- Lifestyle: Within the 1990’s lifestyle had completely changed. Women were having children later in life, and there was a lot of pregnancy before marriage. However, if this was to happen 60 years ago, unmarried pregnant women were sent to special hostels and, had to give up their child for adoption. This is where you can clearly see the change in society. Within this decade, there were 3.1 million only-child families; there were many money financial problems and women had to work and pay towards bills. Again, from the other decades I wrote about, it was the man’s duty to provide for the family. In turn, it was harder to stereotype as there was becoming less of a structure/routine. It was up to people how they wanted to live their lives, whether it was the best way or not.
- Entertainment: The 1990’s was packed full of entertainment. With new music from the first ever girl band the Spice Girls, to personal CD players and mobile phones. This was the decade whereby entertainment was a must in people’s lives. You could argue that entertainment may have started to decrease time spent with families. As TV was popular with more channels, music concerts, game consoles and mobile phones. Supermarkets and shopping malls were easier to get to with a lot more choice, fast food chains and owning a car became very popular which created more traffic. In particular, you could also argue that the emergence of fast food chains was another reason why family time was less important. Fast food chains were cheap, easy to get to and was a lot more convenient.
- Children: This decade may have been the beginning of anti-social behaviour within children and young adults. Children had a lot more choice and became more independent. Children had their own TV programmes to constantly watch such as the Power Rangers, children owned mobile phones, personal computers and DVD’s. Teenager’s also took advantage of the fast food chains which meant missing dinner time with the family. Family time for children, was not as cherished as it use to be. This was being accepted by society as freedom was given. Popular culture was just as popular, if not, more than education. High-tech toys and gaming also started to become a huge trend and, was seen as an important part of children’s life.
In conclusion, the 1990’s was a very accepting society, and there was more freedom and choice. Arguably, although this is a good factor to consider, this may have been the reason as to why divorce rates were increasing. People were becoming more aware of the change and, simply moving with the times. Traditional family life was not important anymore, people’s lifestyle had completely changed.
Sources: Changing Britain, families and households in the 1990’s by Susan McRae, Woodlands.co.uk
So in the 1990s was it like one single parent or only child family?