Social Change and the Family: Comparative Perspectives from the West, China, and South Asia

This p a p e r examines the inf luence of social and e c o n o m i c change on family s t ruc tu re and re la t ionships : H o w do such e c o n o m i c and social t ransformat ions as industr ia l izat ion, urbaniza t ion , demographic change, the expans ion of educa t ion , and the longte rm g r o w t h of i n c o m e inf luence the family? W e take a c o m p a r a t i v e and h is tor ica l approach , r ev i ewing the e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h r ee ma jo r soc iocu l tu ra l regions: the West , China, and South Asia. Many o f the changes that have o c c u r r e d in family life have b e e n r emarkab ly similar in the t h ree s e t t i n g s t h e sepa ra t ion of the w o r k p l a c e f rom the home, i nc reased t ra in ing of ch i ld r en in n o ~ i l i a l inst i tut ions, the d e v e l o p m e n t of l iving a r r angemen t s ou t s ide the family household , i nc reased access o f c h i l d r e n to f inancial and o t h e r p roduc t ive resources , and inc reased pa r t i c ipa t ion b y ch i ld r en in the sel ec t ion o f a mate. Whi l e the s imilar i t ies o f family change in d iverse cul tura l set t ings are striking, specif ic aspects of change have var ied across settings because of significant pre-exist ing differences in family s t ruc ture , res iden t ia l pa t t e rns o f marr iage, a u t o n o m y of chi ldren , and the ro le o f mar r iage wi th in k inship systems."