Grandparents' Role in Families: Improvements?
TITLE
Evaluate the view that the position of grandparents in the family has
improved.
ESSAY
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🚀 🌟Title: Evaluation of the Changing Role of Grandparents in Family Dynamics🌟
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🚀 🌟Introduction🌟
The role of grandparents in the family structure has been evolving over time, with differing perspectives on whether their position has improved or not. This essay will evaluate this view by considering both supporting and opposing arguments.
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🚀 🌟In Support of the View🌟
1. 🌟Benefits of Third Age Grandparents Supporting Dual Earner Parents🌟
💥 Functionalists argue that grandparents providing support enable dual💥earner parents to maintain their careers while ensuring child care needs are met.
2. 🌟Flexibility in Childcare Provision🌟
💥 Grandparents fill the gaps between formal childcare and parental care, as evidenced by the £50 billion worth of childcare they provide, according to an HSBC report.
3. 🌟Decrease in Families on Welfare🌟
💥 Active support from grandparents helps reduce families relying on welfare, particularly with increasing divorce rates, aligning with the New Right perspective.
4. 🌟Financial and Emotional Support🌟
💥 Grandparents are increasingly offering financial aid, and grandfathers are taking a more active role in childcare compared to the past.
5. 🌟Cross💥Cultural Examples🌟
💥 Cross💥cultural examples from countries like China and the Philippines demonstrate the crucial role grandparents play in filling parenting gaps.
6. 🌟Specific Support for Certain Demographics🌟
💥 For instance, Black Caribbean single parent mothers often receive essential support from female grandparents.
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🚀 🌟Against the View🌟
1. 🌟Grandparents as a Burden🌟
💥 Some feminist perspectives highlight that grandparents can become burdensome in terms of domestic, financial, and emotional responsibilities, particularly for women.
2. 🌟Decreased Contact Due to Divorce🌟
💥 Increased divorce rates may result in grandparents losing contact with their grandchildren, impacting intergenerational relationships.
3. 🌟Gendered Grandparenting Roles🌟
💥 Despite changes, grandparenting roles remain gendered, with grandmothers often bearing the caregiving burden.
4. 🌟Dispersed Extended Families🌟
💥 Geographical distance in extended families limits the ability of grandparents to provide regular assistance.
5. 🌟Friction with Traditional Roles🌟
💥 In industrial societies, the traditional elderly patriarch model clashes with modern values of social mobility and meritocracy, potentially reducing grandparents' authority.
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🚀 🌟Conclusion🌟
In conclusion, the position of grandparents in families has indeed seen improvements in various aspects such as support provision and active roles. However, challenges persist, especially related to gendered roles, changing family structures, and cultural contexts. Therefore, a balanced approach is needed to fully assess the evolving role of grandparents in contemporary family dynamics.
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Please feel free to use and modify the above structure to create your sociology essay. If you need more specific details or assistance, feel free to ask!
SUBJECT
SOCIOLOGY
LEVEL
A level and AS level
NOTES
Evaluate the view that the position of grandparents in the family has improved.
🌟Indicative content🌟
🌟In support of the view🌟
💥 Benefits of third age grandparents supporting dual earner parents (functionalists).
💥 Grandparents are flexible in filling the gaps between formal childcare and parental care / Grandparents are providing £50 billion worth of free childcare (HSBC report).
💥 Taking active support role with an increase in divorce rate means fewer families on welfare (New Right).
💥 Grandparents increasingly providing financial support.
💥 Grandfathers taking a more active role with grandchildren than previously (Coall et al).
💥 Cross💥cultural examples of grandparents filling the ‘parenting gap’, e.g., China and Philippines.
💥 Black Caribbean single parent mothers receiving support from the female grandparent.
💥 Any other appropriate point.
🌟Against the view🌟
💥 Grandparents as a burden (domestic, financial, emotional) upon women (Feminism).
💥 Increased rates of divorce mean grandparents may lose contact with grandchildren.
💥 Grandparenting still very gendered with grandmothers taking the burden (Chambers).
💥 Japanese / Nomadic examples of abandoning elderly relatives continue, therefore position has not improved.
💥 Western culture – Status of grandparents undercut by ageism.
💥 Extended families are often dispersed over geographical distances meaning they are not able to provide regular help.
💥 With children being more socially mobile in industrial society/status is no longer ascribed, there is friction between tradition of the elderly patriarch as head of the family (Parsons).
💥 Many grandparents are still in employment and not in a position to help.
💥 Grandparents continue to have the same respected (high) status in some non💥Western cultures (Buchannan) so their position has not changed.
💥 Any other appropriate point.
The above content is indicative, and other relevant approaches to the question should be rewarded appropriately.
9699/22 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme
PUBLISHED October/November 2021
© UCLES 2021 Page 16 of 17