Using relevant examples discuss how issues in the contemporary society have affected the stability of the family

Using relevant examples discuss how issues in the contemporary society have affected the stability of the family

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Introduction

In the recent past, the role of the parent especially the role of the mother has come under very sharp scrutiny and criticism. Today’s generation is not the same as the other generations in terms of behavior, character, morals, technological awareness and exposure. Most people attribute most of these differences to the type of upbringing of today’s generation. Traditionally, a woman was expected to stay at home and take care of her husband and children while the husbands role was to go out and look for means of taking care of his family. With the advancement of the gender equality agenda, women have evolved into two categories of mothers, the “Stay at Home” mothers and the “Working” mothers (Susan Jeanne Douglas , 12). As a result, the topic of whether mothers should stay at home and take care of their children cannot be ignored. The level of education and empowerment of women has seen to it that nowadays, most mothers run the show in boardrooms as well as in the living room. As will be discussed in this essay, mothers should not stay at home and take care of their children.

Increased divorce rates

Divorce has increased substantially. The total divorce rate in most western African countries reaches approximately 20 percent. Concomitant with the increasing divorce rate is the rise in one-parent families, the majority headed by women. Single-parent households, however, also increase because of the growing number of mothers who are single by accident or choice. The degree to which single motherhood by accident is on the increase is not completely clear, because many studies only use formal criteria such as marital status to identify lone mothers. In many Kenyan socierties and communities today, many unmarried mothers are living together with a partner (who may or may not to be the father of the child(ren)), or that single motherhood is only a temporary, transitional stage in the union formation. Many unmarried mothers, in other words, are not necessarily to be considered as lone parents. Single motherhood by choice, more particularly among older, better-educated, working Kenyan women, also seems to be on the rise.

High prevalence of single parenthood

Another factor that is undermining the traditional kinship-based family structures in Africa is the prevalence of single parenthood, particularly among young urban females. As increasing numbers of women have joined the labor force, single and female-headed households have become a discernible pattern on the African social landscape. Although some societies in Kenyan such as Maasai and Turkana communities continue to frown upon women over 30 who are still single, accusing them of prolonging singlehood, this new trend reflects attempts to adapt to secular changes in educational status, employment and occupational mobility, and in some cases, the decline of marriageable men. Many Kenyan unplanned urban settlements like Korogocho and Mathare are populated with unmarried single and poor women who face considerable obstacles in overcoming dislocation, rural-urban migration, and deprivation. Coping with the circumstances of family disruption in most Kenyan families has entailed single-parent families among lower-income groups taking their children to live with relatives, in particular, the children’s grandparents.

Changes in reproductive behaviors

Most (married) couples in Kenya want and have children, but a small number of children, unlike the past. After a strong decline in the 1960s, 1970s and in some countries the 1980s, fertility – measured by the total fertility rate- seems to have stabilized at the end of the 20th century at below-replacement levels.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Kenyan families

The effect of HIV/AIDS on family structures and processes that largely depend on the sexual behavior of the population in its childbearing years, are on the rise in Kenya. According to recent media reports, sexual promiscuity in the heterosexual population, in combination with the absence or low prevalence of condom use or other safe sex measures, in Kenyan families boosts the spread of the infection, particularly among the younger adult age groups. In such circumstances, the disease must have disastrous effects on several aspects of family life and family structure on a broad scale. Kenyan households hit by the disease risk a dramatic decrease of their income, either because of sickness or because of the high costs of treatment. The sexual life of the couple risks deterioration. Finally, the family structure is affected: children are removed to other households or are orphaned, and the surviving partner widowed.

The adult infection rate (the percentage prevalence among the population aged 15 to 49) of the pandemic has 8.57 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Challenge of housewives

Housewives today feel a lot of social and pyshological challenges in their families. The housewives feel especially lonely as there is no one they can socialize with at the same level until the time the husband comes back, at the end of the day, too tired to even consider a simple grown up conversation. The children that these mothers go to take care of are very young and their mental capacity cannot be able to reason with the parents. Humans are social beings and if this is taken away from them, they will become lonely. Due to the loneliness and depression, such mothers will not do the best by their children, the reason they left their employment in the first place. With the loss of personal identity comes the loss or the decline of an individual’s self-esteem. Due to this loss, the mother won’t even be able to enjoy the special moments with her children. For those individuals who define themselves by what they do, the decision to stay at home and take care of their children can make them lose their identity .

Gender , Employment Participation and Child raring

The traditional model of Kenyan family organization, based on sexual task segregation, ruled out female occupation even though at all times a substantial, but variable and sometimes minor part of married women did not stay entirely out of the labor market (not to mention unmarried women). The quite inequitable complementarity between a wife looking after the internal affairs of the family and a husband assuring its survival by earning the necessary income outside was culturally – and for a long time also sociologically – defined as balanced. However, today mothers work full time, leaving the children in the hands of care givers. This leads to poor up brining in and child maltreatment. The scenario reflects an extreme form of family instability as children suffer from physical abuse, and sexual abuse.

Changing Community Dimension of Family

The community dimension of marriage is another main feature of African society. In Africa a marriage is never just an affair between two individuals. It is also an alliance between two families. And in a certain sense whole villages or clans are involved. The clan has always had an important say – frequently too important a say – in the acceptance of a marriage partner, precisely because marriage involves the welcoming of a new member into the clan. Africans at times will even say that it is not two individuals but two clans that marry. Today, the effect of western ideas is to reduce this social emphasis in favor of more personalistic concepts. Yet many educated Africans remain sensitive to the possibility that a new emphasis on personal values in marriage – mutual love, personal choice, a desire for self-fulfillment, etc. – is not necessarily in contrast with social values nor should it lead to their exclusion. They are also beginning to realize that many western approaches to marriage are individualistic. The rejection of the broader social commitment that Africans have always connected with marriage covers a hidden and excessive self-concern that can lead in time to a refusal to face up to the demands involved in the mini-society which is the nuclear marriage itself, and to a subsequent collapse of the marriage. A successful marriage always has a social aspect. It always calls for an opening out to others (to one’s spouse and one’s children at the very minimum) and this is possible only in the degree in which individualistic self-love is overcome. Individualism for the African is not a family value and leads to marriage instability and breakages.

Conclusion

The are many issues in the contemporary society that have affected the stability of the family. These issues include divorce, single parenthood, work pressures, HIV/AIDS, among others. There is need for marital education, family counseling, and related services that can improve middle-class couples’ communication and problem-solving skills, resulting initially in greater marital satisfaction and, in some cases, reduced divorce, although these effects appear to fade over time.

References

McLanahan, S., I. Garfinkel., and R. B. Mincy. 2001. “Fragile Families, Welfare Reform, and Marriage.” Policy Brief No. 10. Washington DC: Brookings Institution.

Gennetian, L. and V. Knox. 2004. Getting and Staying Married: The Effects of a Minnesota Welfare Reform Program on Marital Stability. New York: MDRC.