Which Characteristics and Functions of the European Families Have Changed in the Last Fifty Years? Many Argue That Slowing Social Mobility and Increasing Poverty Levels in Europe Can Have Dramatic Consequences. Discuss.

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“Families are the compasses that guide us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” - (Brad Henry). The argument of this essay is that families have several characteristics and functions of which each differs greatly from one family to another. This essay will explain the change in the characteristics that occurred during the last fifty years. In the first part I will define family and its importance in an individual’s life and demonstrate the main characteristics of a family in the 1960’s, after that I will describe the changes and clarify the characteristics of the modern family including the causes that contributed to these changes. In the second part I will explain social mobility, talk about poverty, its reasons, and the consequences of poverty. In the end, I will conclude and summarize the findings of this paper. Part 1: A family may have several characteristics and functions, of which each differs greatly from one family to another. However, one thing they all have in common is the idea that the family is the basic social unit of society. It is in the family that we first learn to play, to share, to help and to love. Even if each member of the family is distinct in his own way, the life of every single person would only be complete if all segments of the family are united and put together. Families in the 1960s used to consist of the breadwinner father, homemaker mother and a number of children. They were generally larger and more complicated with several generations living together. In England for example, the average household size was 4.75 persons, while in the meantime this number declined to 2.4 people. As a cause, relationships between family members were much stronger and tighter than they are now, and marriages were more common in contrast to today.
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