Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of the nature and extent of family diversity today (24 marks)

On Most Advertisements, the nuclear family is represented as the ideal family . The Nuclear family is a family which entails of a Mother a Father and two children which is portrayed in various different ways to be the most suitable family structure. The idea of the Nuclear Family being the ideal family was studied and expressed in 1967 by Edmund Leach. However the question in which must be taken into consideration is that is the nuclear family still considered a norm in the society of today despite the fact that family diversity is on the rise. From the perspective of Rapoport and Fogarty, they believe that nuclear families are not the norm anymore for the reason that family diversity has increased and will most likely continue to increase. There were five particular categories of family diversity which were recognised in Britain. One form is organisational diversity which is when division of labour is established within the family and the contrasts in the way differences in the ways family roles are organised. Diversity can be perceived in many ways for instance Cultural diversity which is the religious and ethnic effects. Social class diversity- there are differences between working and middle classes in terms of adult relationships, the socialisation of children etc. Life course diversity, as different stages in the life cycle will generate different patterns of structure e.g. newly weds have a different structure and life style to those with children. Cohort diversity refers to specific times in the past which could have had an effect on the family structure, e.g. unemployment in the 1980's would have led to a smaller family structure.
Eversley and Bonnerjea (E and B) identified six types of regional diversity. The