Types of family diversity
Robert and Rhona Rapoport are sociologists who investigated family diversity in Britain and
considered that the ‘cereal packet image of the family’ so-called by Leach, which is an
image of the happily married couple with two children, a male breadwinner and wife in a
domestic role as a family form which is in decline.

Can you find and paste in here a picture of a ‘cereal packet image of the family’ - a
picture of a traditional family which was literally portrayed in cereal adverts and on
cereal packets in the 1950-1960’s? Try Kelloggs Cornflakes.

Find two cereal adverts for 2009 and comment on whether there have been any
signs of increasing diversity?
Rhona Rapoport said that the decline in the conventional family is not just confined to
Britain but is found throughout Europe. Since the 1960’s she identifies a huge increase in
the number of women working outside the home and changing roles for men and women.
The Rapoports identify five distinctive elements of family diversity in Britain.
1. Organisational Diversity: Variations in household structure, type, kinship networks,
division of labour.
 Choose a soap opera and name a family which fits into each of these categories.
a. Conventional family:
b. One-parent family:
c. Dual-worker family in which both husband and wife work:
d. Reconstituted family:
The reconstituted family is an emerging form of family in Britain identified by the
Rapoports, which is formed after divorce and remarriage. Jacqueline Burgoyne and
David Clark (1982) who carried out research ‘A study of Stepfamilies in Sheffield’
claim that some individuals in this situation see themselves as ‘pioneers of an
alternative lifestyle’. They might choose to remain unmarried to their new partner.

Suggest why adults in step families might consider themselves to be pioneers?

What ideas about Step-families do children pick up from Fairy Tales like Snow
White or Cinderella? Do you think these ideas cause a problem?
2. Cultural Diversity: There are differences in the lifestyle of families of different
ethnic origins and different religious beliefs.



Which two ethnic groups have the most percentage of conventional family types?
Can you suggest why?
Which two cultures have the least percentage of one person households? Can you
suggest reasons why?
Which two cultures have the highest percentage of six or more people living in their
household?
3. Class Diversity: There are differences between middle and working-class families
in terms of relationships between adults and the way children are socialised.

Read the article below and type up some of the key differences in the socialisation
of the children. Do the two families have anything in common at all?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2003/jul/20/focus.news
4. Lifecycle stage Diversity: Newly married couples without children may have a
different family life to those with dependent children.

Suggest three clear differences.
5. Cohort: This is the impact of the time period in which a family exist. For example
high rates of unemployment in the 1980’s and 2008-9 will have increased the length
of time children are dependent on their parents.