In my previous blog I discussed the nature of single parenting families and that historical, demographic and economic trends play a significant role in the changing family structure of single parent families. I wanted to understand these trends, and in order to do this I needed to understand the history in society. I discovered some very interesting information and found a period timeline on the Ministry of Social Development website.
The information that I gathered from this journal was put in to three generations.
- People aged 65 years and over (born in 1943 or before)
- People aged between about 38 and 64 years (born between 1944 and 1970)
- People aged between 15 and 37 (born between 1971 and 1993).
(Cribb, 2009)
From these three generations I gained new information about the experiences that occurred during those time periods.
People born in 1943 or before
The people in this generation are commonly known as the 'silent generation'.
The generation of this era has seen to be 'ambitious, often seeking achievement, power and status' (Music as a Generational Totem, n.d.). People got married before the age of 25 years old, and the social reputation of a child was largely dependent upon the social status of his or her family (Music as Generational Totem, n.d.).
There were barely any single parent families, the only way that was commonly known to end in a single parent situation was through death of a spouse rather than through divorce. (Cribb, 2009). Divorce was not accepted in society at this point in time. From this information, it supported what my grandparents said things were like. I always look up to this generation when it came to marriage and staying together as they seem to hold such strong ethical morals and stay together through everything.
People born between 1944 and 1970
I researched that the people in this era is commonly known as 'the baby boomers' (Cribb, 2009).
This was the generation that was very different to the previous. There was an increase of family diversity and a decrease in family size and marriage rate. (Cribb, 2009). This is the generation that stands out to me because this was the era of change, where the diversity of family structure started to differ. (Baby Boomers, n.d.) explains that the possible reason for change was because there 'was a desire for normalcy after 16 years of depression and war'. Through my findings I believe that this was the period where people were changing viewpoints on how life could be and that they had more confidence to make change.
An increase of people more likely to be single parents happened between the late 1970's to early 1980's (Statistics New Zealand, 1999). This shows that as time went on single parent situations were increasing.
The reasons for the increase in change was likely to be from an increase in divorcees with dependent children and an increase in young unmarried mothers who had decided not to place their babies for adoption (Cribb, 2009). Even with the increase, society still not accept divorce as the "normal" thing to do.
People born between 1971 and 1993
This era is what is commonly known as different and diverse. Less marriages are occurring and defacto relationships are more prevalent and have replaced marriage among younger people (Cribb, 2009).
Statistics showed that by 1971, only 5 percent of all households were single-parent families (Statistics New Zealand, 2005). This is not a large statistical amount but is more than the previous generation.
The fastest growing group of children in single parent families are the children with parents that have never been married. (Statistics New Zealand, 1999). This graph shows the difference of children in single parent families from 1991 to 1996.
(Statistics New Zealand, 1999)
I am now more open minded and knowledgeable about history of how people have come to a diverse point in society and how families are all different. I have researched that it is common now for parents not to get married and I believe that this is the reason why statistics in society are changing.
