1. AS Sociology: Family Diversity Chester and the Neo-Conventional Family

2. Chester: The Neo-Conventional Family (1985) Saw family diversity, but did not think of it as very significant or negative as did the New Right. The only important change was the ‘move away from the conventional nuclear family structure’ to the neo-conventional family. Chester defines the neo-conventional family as a dual-earning family in which both spouses go out to work.

3. Neo-Conventional Family Activity Get into groups of no more than 4 people. You have 15 minutes for this activity. Devise a set of questions to use to ask a sample of people of different generations about their attitudes to family and personal relationships. Include questions about: divorce, cohabitation, homosexuality, births outside of marriage , lone-parent families and abortion. Your homework is to use your questions to interview at least 2 people. We will discuss your findings next lesson.