This paper explores the nature of families, discussing perceptions of families and how they have evolved over time. It will investigate challenges that families and young people in particular may face while living in contemporary society. Such challenges include the change in dynamics, single parents raising children with no financial support and a low income. It also highlights the impact of the surroundings and family dynamics within society on young people’s development and highlights how youth work can respond to benefit young people to maximise their potential.

Traditionally, the common perception of a family living in Britain prior to the past four decades consisted of a typical two parent family, children raised by both their mother and a father who would have wed and moved in together prior to starting a family. Divorce was uncommon and having a child out of wedlock was not news to be shared with others, if it did occur, people did not speak about it. Richardson (2004) state that findings from Professor Thane suggest “marriages had lasted longer because they generally started at an earlier age, were less likely to be broken by death in young adulthood as life expectancy grew, and divorce was hard to obtain”.

Family life has somewhat evolved since, divorce becoming more common, families developing out of wedlock and cohabiting being considered as a perfectly normal way of life. Taylor et al (1995) explain “families in Britain have undergone major changes historically and are still changing rapidly”. They explain that traditional roles between husbands and wives appear to be merging, divorce rates appear to have increased dramatically and there is an increase on the number of people living together and having children outside of marriage. In support, Richardson (2004) elaborates suggesting that the marriage rates throughout the past four decades have seen a decline and cohabitation is more common either as a substitute to or occurring before marriage.  
In previous decades, the prospect of a same sex marriage was unheard of and posed to be illegal prior to The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, was passed on 17 July 2013. Contemporary society would suggest that this is one of the biggest changes to date in comparison to the decades leading up to the act being passed. Jenkins et al (2007) elaborate by suggesting that “a relaxation of societal attitudes towards marriage means it is no longer seen as unusual
to be involved in a ‘complicated’ family structure. Families are no longer just made up of married parents living with their children” (p.5)
As society is ever changing and a variety of factors evolving within family environments, the effect of the changes undoubtedly has an impact on families living in today’s modern world. Jenkins et al (2007) suggest that “families are now less stable than in previous generations. Children often grow up with different parents in stepfamilies, or with one parent figure missing” (p.5). While this is apparent and becoming more common, single parent families are sometimes considered as being at a disadvantage to a traditional two-parent family. A survey carried out by The Office for national Statistics suggested “Young people whose mother and father split up are also three times as likely to become aggressive or badly behaved” (Beckford 2008). This suggests that the odds of developing an emotional disorder were increased for children where there had been a change in the number of parents between surveys, from two parents to one parent compared with children and young people in families that had two parents at both times.

For any person growing up in society both historically and in contemporary society would benefit from having positive role models in their life acting as positive parents, those who are raised in a single parent family are perceived as being at a disadvantage when being raised by only one parent. Oldrum (1978) explains “no one will question the statement that the mother is the main focus in the home” (p.30), they also suggest that the father plays a vital role in a family environment “the brighter he shines the better is the family climate, and easier for the mother to play her role adequately and happily” (p.30). 

Within single parent families, if one is absent, it can be increasingly difficult especially during adolescence for a single parent to play both roles as effectively as two. However, families provide an environment for children and young people an opportunity to develop both physically and mentally. They are important to the growth of children and young people as they provide, stability and develop the ability to love as well as providing an environment to develop learning opportunities, emotional, social and educational opportunities.

Oldrum (1978) suggests that a child demands a good level of physical care from their mothers in order to develop a body that is healthy, in addition, love and a level of personal understanding. If any of the elements are absent and the child is unloved, the child will rarely flourish and their emotional development can be hindered to carry them through to adulthood. 


Perceptions of society are those that positive role models should present themselves to be in employment in order to instil values including a good work ethic when raising children. This would suggest that they would imitate behaviours displayed when opportunities are presented to them as they transition into adulthood. Bandura et al (1971) suggest “in the social learning system, new patterns of behaviour can be acquired through direct experience or by observing the behaviour of others” (p.3). This suggests that people learn from watching others, which highlights if a parent presents a good work ethic, sustains employment, that their children too will imitate this. 

Likewise, if a parent raising young people that do not have a good work ethic, for example, those on benefits having little motivation to seek employment, the likelihood of imitation and poor work ethic is increased for their children. For single parents, it poses more difficult that two-parent families to sustain a full-time job as childcare can often act as a barrier to prevent parents entering into employment and as a result can  lead to the increased amount of families living in poverty or at less of an advantage than the traditional two parent family with two household incomes.

The impact of poverty on young people can have a detrimental effect on their social and physical development, especially more so in contemporary society and the pressures on young people to keep up with the latest gadgets, fashion or other forms of technology. Treanor (2012) highlights “poverty has negative impacts on children’s health, cognitive development, social, emotional and behavioural development and educational outcomes”. This highlights the need of additional support for families that are living in poverty, especially for young people in order to promote a positive lifestyle to benefit them through the transition to adulthood. Youth work provides a positive environment for young people to be able to express themselves in a comfortable environment, an opportunity to be educated by positive role models via a youth work approach which is supportive and allows young people a safe environment that promotes trusting relationships.
Treanor (2012) also highlights “Children living in poverty, and their parents,
do have hopes and aspirations for their future but they lack knowledge of how to achieve their ambitions”. Fortunately, youth work can provide opportunities for young people to access provision from the age of eleven via school based youth work, youth clubs within their communities and have access to positive role models that promote positive lifestyles for young people to live better lives. 

For families living in poverty due to unfortunate circumstances, it can lead to situations of embarrassment for young people in contemporary society, especially those that come from low income families, using food banks and assistance for school meals such as tokens in exchange for meals at lunch time. The power of youth work can offer opportunities for young people to engage in sessions that prevent bullying, educate them on the impact of their actions, as well as promoting resilience. 

Due to an increase in demand for qualifications and experience when entering in to employment, youth work has a significant impact on educating young people on their opportunities available to them to ensure that despite barriers faced, they can gain qualifications and work experience that increases their opportunities to enter in to employment, reducing the likelihood of such poverty. For example, funded projects such as Cam Nesa, a project that aims to reduce the number of young people between the age of 16-25 that are NEET can provide opportunities for young people to engage with a youth worker to devise an individualised plan to assist them in gaining qualifications and a paid work placement specific to their desired field of work. For the young person, having built a positive relationship based on trust, young people can broaden their horizons and raise aspirations despite how the influences at home in their family environment. 

It is evident that as society has evolved over the past quarter of a centenary, the pressures for young people have too escalated and contemporary society has presented new challenges for young people to overcome. Job opportunities have become increasingly more difficult to identify which has had a spiralling effect on families living in the modern world. Undoubtedly, due to an increase in demand for people to have gained qualifications in order to gain higher paid jobs or employment of desired fields specific to the individual, poverty is more prominent for those living in contemporary society. The power of youth work can provide trusting, professional relationships with young people in order to raise their aspirations and to maximise their potential physically, emotionally and socially in order to positively transition into adulthood.