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6.2
THE FAMILY
VOCABULARY AND SPEAKING
1
Work with a partner. How many words can you
think of for people in families? How many people are
there in your (immediate) family?
parents, children, …
2
a
What age do you think these people are?
an adolescent a middle-aged person a young adult
a person in his/her mid-thirties a child
an elderly person a teenager a retired person
2
b
What is the best age to:
1
move out of your parents’ home?
2
have children?
3
become a grandparent?
READING
3
a
Match these words with their definitions below.
nuclear family extended family adversity
multi-generational beneficial recession
1
good for you
2
consisting of parents and their children
3
negative situations, problems
4
grandparents or elderly people, their children and
their grandchildren
5
consisting of parents, their children and other
members of the family
6
financial hardship across a whole country
3
b
Read the newspaper article below and complete
this sentence in six or seven words.
This article is about …
3
c
How is the article organised? Put these topics in
order (1–4).
a
reasons for the change in family structure
b
advantages for grandparents
c
advantages for young people
d
the change in family structure
3
d
Read the article again. Are these sentences true or
false? Correct the false ones.
1
Nowadays fewer young people live at home once
they have left university than they did in the past.
2
Less than 40% of young people aged 18-31 live with
their parents.
3
Young people are getting married later now than
they used to in the past.
4
Grandparents often live with their children because
they want to go to university as mature students.
5
Living in multi-generational units is beneficial to
both grandparents and grandchildren.
4
Evaluating and predicting
Answer these questions.
1
Do you agree with Patrick Hodges that living in
multi-generational families is a good thing? Why or
why not?
2
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a
nuclear/extended family?
3
How important is family life in your country?
4
How do you think the family will change in the
future?
The future of the family
In many countries, including the UK
and the USA, it has always been the
norm for young adults to move out
of the family home once they start
university or get their first job. Yet today
this situation is very different. More
and more young people – married,
childless or with children of their own
– are choosing to live with their parents
and siblings in the parental home.
In 2012, 36 percent of young
Americans aged 18–31 were living
with their parents. Factors responsible
for this change include economic
difficulties caused by the recent
recession, a return to college as mature
students and the fact that many
young people are concentrating on
getting their careers off to a good start
before getting married. ‘If this trend
continues, we will see more and more
multi-generational family units – and
in my opinion, that’s a good thing,’ says
Dr Patrick Hodges, a social worker.
Sarah, 28, says, ‘I used to share a flat
with two flatmates, but I moved back
in with my parents when I returned
to college last year to do an M.A. It
was purely a financial necessity at
first, and I was really unsure about it. I
thought ‘if I don’t move in with them, I
won’t be able to afford to be a student
again.’ But I get on really well with my
parents. If they are not unhappy with
the situation, too (and I don’t think they
are!), I’ll continue to live here even once
I finish my degree.’
Another interesting trend is the
change from living as a traditional
nuclear family to extended families
sharing one home. A recent US census
shows that about 10 percent of all
under 18s are growing up with at least
one grandparent in the house. In most
of those cases, three generations are
living together. Many grandparents
say that seeing their grandchildren on
a daily basis is a privilege. ‘Being with
young people is also beneficial to the
health and wellbeing of grandparents’,
adds Dr Hodges.
A recent University of Oxford study
found that teenagers, too, are happier
when grandparents are involved in
their daily lives. Studies show that if
grandparents play an active part in
the upbringing of their grandchildren,
those children will be more able to
handle life’s adversities.
