Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.3 reveals that respondents considered children, partner, parents,
grandchildren and best friends as being extremely close to them (with an at-
tributed score of attachment being higher than six out of seven). Best friends
rated at almost the same level of closeness to respondents as parents and
they were considered closer than siblings. As such, it appears that friends are
expected to play an even greater role in people's emotional lives. There is no
demise of the family as far as emotional attachments are concerned. As the
nuclear family morphs, networks of emotional closeness are reconstituted.
For example, a husband may become an ex-partner and become less close to
his ex-wife; nonetheless, his children will still remain close to him.
The effect of migration
As a consequence of globalisation, there is no corner of the world that
remains untouched by migration. As European Union citizens, people in
the UK can take advantage of free movement and are resettling, often in
the preferred destinations of Spain and France. Indeed, the landscape of
the UK is changing as inbound migration has made London, for example,
a melting pot of international inhabitants from a multitude of countries,
from anywhere from Poland to Somalia. Simply put, people no longer live
next door to many of their family members. Diasporas of this kind will, of
course, affect everyday family life (Future Foundation, 2006).
The democratic family
The family is not only changing in structure but also in the attitudes which
govern relationships within it. As shown in Figure 3.4, family members were
revealed in the research by the Future Foundation (2006) as becoming more
open with each other than ever before. Parents are increasingly including
children in any major decision-making and are giving children more
autonomy in their personal consumption. Additionally, traditional domestic
roles, such as women being the primary carer for children, are starting to
become slightly less rigid. This is what is known as the democratic family.
As a result of this democratisation, children's quarrels with parents are
becoming more infrequent. At present, one-third of 11-16-year-olds quarrel
with their mothers once a week and one-fifth quarrel with their fathers. As
a consequence, children are becoming more involved in the decisions about
holiday destination and activities.
The family network
The family plays a central role in daily life. As Castells (2009) suggests, 'it
is the psychological lynchpin of people's lives'. While the modern family is
as strong as its predecessors, it is being reconstituted from a family unit to
