Family Matters
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Family Matters
Family Matters
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Part 1
Family
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Family Matters
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Introduction
Why do we study “family”?
In “Integrated Humanities”, we study ‘people’ as groups. Family is the social group
with the longest history in the world.
Family is important because it is the basic unit
of society. It is where we learn to become members of a society.
develop and grow.
In the family, we
Family Matters
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What is a family?
a. Match the words with the statements.
A family （家庭）


a person or a number of persons
sharing a living space
A household （住戶） 

a building that houses one or a
number of families
A home （家居）


a group of people who are especially
related to each other as parents and
children
A house （房屋）
b.


a place where the family lives
An advertisement for Country Garden （碧桂園） claimed that it could
give you a five-star family （給您一個五星級的家）.
Look at the word “family”. Do you think it is the right word here? If not,
can you find a better word to replace it?
(no definitive answers)
- Students should be able to mention that a family means a group of
people but not a place.
- Suggested better word: home
Family Matters
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Family Size
1.
Take a hand count to find out the family sizes of your classmates. Please fill in
the following table.
Family size
Number of families
Family with 1 child
Family with 2 children
Family with 3 children
Family with 4 children
Family with 5-6 children
Family with more than 6 children
2.
What family size do most of your classmates have?
(Depending on answers to Q.1)
3.
Is your father or mother the only child in his or her family?
4.
(Depending on individual cases)
Take a hand count to find out the family sizes of your classmates’ parents.
Please fill in the following table.
Family size
Family with 1 child
Family with 2 children
Family with 3 children
Family with 4 children
Family with 5 children
Family with 6 children
Family with 7 children
Family with 8 children
Family with 9 children
Family with 10 or more than 10 children
Number of families
Family Matters
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What family size do most of your classmates’ parents have?
(Depending on answers to Q.4)
6.
Compare your answer to Q.5 with that to Q.2. Do you find a big difference? Can
you suggest some reasons for the difference?
Yes
- young couples prefer the freedom of a small family size
- high costs in raising children in Hong Kong
- women with better education tend to have late marriages in order to
develop their career
- the prevalence of family planning
- low infant mortality rate due to improved medical services and
hygiene
- low infant mortality rate reduces the risk in having fewer
children
Family Matters
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Group discussion
Fill in the following table during your group discussion.
Family size
Family with 1 child
Good things about living
in a family of this size
-
Bad things about living
in a family of this size
more parental attention
less financial burden
well planned upbringing for the
child
-
Family with 2
-
children
-
Families with 3 – 4
children
-
Families with more
children learn to share with others
children
learn
how
to
communicate
emotional support from siblings
children have greater social capital
sharing of family responsibilities
-
than 4 children
Family with children and grandparents
-
grandparents take care of the children
valuable experience of the
elderly
passing on of family culture and tradition
Put a  for the
one you want to
live in
parental over-care
(no standard
parental high expectation of answers)
the child
strict discipline imposed on
the child
difficult for child to develop
interpersonal skill
lack of peer support for the
child
quarrels between children
(no standard
competition
for
parental answers)
attention
parents pitch one child against
(no standard
another
answers)
diluton of parental care
less financial support for each
child
age gap between elder and
younger siblings
(no standard
heavy financial burden on the answers)
family
different
values
among (no standard
generations create conflict answers)
about children’s education
over-care
strict discipline
Family Matters
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Answer the following questions.
1.
As a child, what family size do you prefer? Why?
(no standard answers)
- Students should be able to state the advantages their choice can bring
to the family
2.
If you were a parent, what family size would you prefer? Why?
(no standard answers)
- Students should be able to state the advantages their choice can bring
to the family
What have you learned?
You are able to
1.
2.
understand the meaning of the word "family";
explain why the size of family changes over the years.
Family Matters
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Part 2
Family Types
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MK_Our home and family_Family issues 10
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Introduction
Family is the social group with the longest history. The size of family changes over
time, and so do its composition. In recent years, new types of family have emerged.
Some common family types in Hong Kong
1.
A nuclear family usually consists of a married couple (i.e. husband and wife)
and their children, including adopted children, if any.
2.
A single-parent family is another form of nuclear family. It consists of one
parent and his or her children.
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 11
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An extended family is an expansion of the nuclear family. There are several
generations and they all live together in one household. In China, an extended
family usually consists of the male head of the household, his unmarried
daughters, his sons and their families, his grandsons’ families, and so forth.
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 12
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Head of household
son
daughter
-in-law
son
son
granddaughter
grandson
daughter
-in-law
granddaughter
-in-law
daughter
-in-law
daughter
(unmarried)
daughter
(unmarried)
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 13
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Hong Kong in 1985
Distribution of different family types:
Family Types
Percentage
Nuclear family
77.6
Extended family
14.3
Single-parent family
7.0
Others
1.1
Total
100.0
(* From a study conducted by the Tsuen Wan District Board in 1985.)
1.
Which family type enjoys the highest percentage, the nuclear family or the
extended family?
- Nuclear family
2.
Can you explain why?
Economical reasons:
- Hong Kong flats are too small and expensive for multi-generation
households.
- High cost of living in Hong Kong makes small family size economically
necessary.
Social reasons:
- Young couples want to enjoy the freedom of living away from their
parents
- People like to live close to their jobs and schools even if they have to
live far away from the older generation
- Late marriages of better-educated women, who want to develop their
career, result in fewer children in a family
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 14
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New Types of family organizations
Test-tube babies
The development of science and technology
makes “test-tube babies” possible. A surrogate
mother （代母） is a woman who carries and
gives birth to a child for another woman. The
latter is responsible for bringing up the child, so
she is the social mother. The genes （遺傳基
因） of the child may be provided by the father
and the social mother or another female.
Families of people with the same sex
In some countries, two persons of the same sex can form a family and enjoy the
same legal rights as other types of families. They could even have their own
children.
a.
Do you think the following can be called a family?
Father
Man
Man
No
Man
Man
(with surrogate
father)
Man
Woman
Mother
Woman
No
Woman
Woman
(with surrogate
mother)
Woman
Son/daughter
No
Son/daughter
Son/daughter
Son/daughter
Yes/No
Son/daughter
(no standard answers)
Man
Woman
No
No
(no standard answers)
(no standard answers)
(no standard answers)
(no standard answers)
(no standard answers)
(no standard answers)
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 15
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Some people think that people of the same sex cannot form a family. Do you
agree? Why?
Factors to be considered:
- freedom of people to make his/her personal choices
- degree of acceptance of homosexual marriage in our society
- traditional moral views towards such behavior in Chinese dominant society
- legal status of homosexual marriages
- how children of such family will fare in the future
* Teachers should ask students to discuss the issue with an open mind.
c.
Is a child a must for a family?
No
d.
What type of family can bring the most happiness to family members? Give
reasons.
(no standard answers)
- Students should realize that there is no direct relationship between family
types and family happiness.
- Relationship is an essential element for happiness.
e.
In your view, what are the most important element(s) making up a family?
(no standard answers)
- Students should note that families vary with time. There is no definitive
element in the make-up of a family.
MK_Our home and family_Family issues 16
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What have you learnt?
You are able to
1. distinguish between different family types;
2. realize that new family types may emerge.
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