Family through the years: 2000’s

Thursday, June 4th, 2015

The 2000’s lifestyle

Family life in the 2000’s had completely changed. It was stated that nearly half (46%) of lone parents were not in employment. In turn, this meant people relying on the government and benefits. Scarily, this had become the norm and family life did not mean two parents and children. Both marriage rates and divorce rates decreased as time went on.

2000 Marriage rate: 267,961
2000 Divorce rate: 141,135

Source: www.theguardian.com/news

• Lifestyle: Family life and the importance was becoming something of the past. 42% of women were giving birth when not married. This statement is huge as behaviour such as this was forbidden, whereas in the 2000’s it was acceptable and council houses were provided. With lone parents and longer working hours, people’s lifestyle was more career-minded as opposed to spending quality time with the family. There were equal rights between men and women, there was less stereotyping as women worked just as much as men. Moreover, watching TV was the most popular leisure activity for more than 8 in the 10 adults. This meant more time watching the screen and less time with the family; this included eating dinner as a family. You could argue, with more freedom amongst society, there was no need for a close family.

  

• Entertainment: Entertainment was a huge factor in the 2000’s. There were better electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, computers with faster internet and game consoles. Other entertainment included the cinemas, bowling and bigger and better foreign holidays. There wasn’t a shortage of entertainment on TV as well, popular culture was still rising and it became an important part of people’s lives. Going out with the family was still heard of, however, going out with friends and other family members became just as important. There were many restaurants, this included different types of food such as Indian, Chinese and Thai. Instead of a family meal at home, people would go to restaurants at their own convenience. Moreover, whether it was food shopping or clothes shopping, everything became easier for people’s leisure as supermarkets started to sell various items. Department stores and shopping under one roof became popular, as well as using a car to drive to destinations such as these.

  

• Children: This was a great era for children. Toys started to become a lot more adventurous as well as films such as the hit animation, Toy Story. Comparing to a few decades ago, education was the most important factor in a child’s life. However, although education will always be important, children did not see this. Modern life compared to traditional life comes with video games, computers, internet, mobile phones and TV/cinema/music entertainment; this may be the reason for the lack of interest in education. Anti-social behaviour amongst children started to become noticeable, there was more rebelling and not enough respect. This again, may be due to children having their ‘own world’ in which they had their own gadgets. Teenagers also had independence with meals. Instead of sitting down with the family, teenagers could easily go to their local fast food chain and order a meal for a very cheap price. In turn, anti-social behaviour became easier for them to control. Along with food, there was also peer pressure. Peer pressure is something teenagers have to tackle even till this day. Arguably, if one child does not want to associate themselves with their family because it seemed ‘uncool’ this would then have an effect on the child’s friends, as they want to be around their friends and have less family time. In turn, children were more occupied with popular culture and friends. Social media also started to begin as children/teenagers were spending more time on their computers/mobile phones. Arguably, family time was neglected by both parents and child.

  

In conclusion, although the 2000’s celebrates freedom, equality and a better lifestyle in terms of choice, this may have been what caused the rise of divorce and the breakdown in family life. Society used to care about the little things in life, however, it seems as though popular culture has overseen that. From writing about the 1920’s to the 2000’s, there has been a huge amount of change. Throughout the decades there has been a consistent pattern of the words choice and equality, therefore, people have acted upon this and people’s lives are led by themselves and not by others. Having the right (as a woman) to have a divorce or a child before marriage has become completely normal. This arguably is the stem of how the traditional family has fallen.