Family

A group linked through relationships such as blood, marriage, partnership or adoption. Family relationships can extend across separate households.

Family life does not have one fixed shape. Sociologists study family diversity: differences in family structures, relationships and the ways people organise their lives. These differences exist both within the United Kingdom and between societies.

A social unit consisting of a married, civil-partnered or cohabiting couple, with or without dependent children, or a lone parent with dependent children.

Identify family forms by their defining relationships, not simply by the number of people in the household.

A family can fit more than one category: a same-sex couple with a child from an earlier relationship can also be a reconstituted family.

Treat ethnic and cultural patterns as tendencies, not rules about every family. Give the date and geographical coverage when using historical statistics.

A group connected through relationships such as parenthood, partnership, marriage or adoption. Its precise boundaries vary between sociological and statistical definitions.

A family is usually understood as a group connected through relationships such as parenthood, partnership, marriage or adoption. However, sociologists do not use one universally agreed definition. The word can describe both a small family unit and a much wider group of relatives.

Definition

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AQA GCSE Sociology · 8192

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Eduqas GCSE Sociology · C200