The socio-cultural changes taking place around the world in 2040 are associated with an increase in individual freedom and the expansion of the choice of professions. In addition, the importance of education will increase; all of the above will lead to an increase in the social differentiation of the entire society. The family will resist the consequences of social tension and is the consolidating center for the individual. The family for any person will remain the sphere of meeting communication, emotional contact, recognition, and self-realization. Therefore, the social and personal significance of family values associated with the development of the family will be preserved. In general, the change in the family’s value orientations will be first determined by global trends related to the transition from one type of civilization to another. Secondly, the transformation of the family’s value orientations will be associated with profound and qualitative changes in the leading social institutions and social organizations as a whole. These changes will be expressed in an increase in the degree of freedom, the importance of education, the self-realization of women, and the loss of absolute authority by parents.
First of all, in 2040, the modern family will cease to be a cooperative and labor association, and the transition from family production to family and household self-service will take place. As a result, the position of women, who will also be involved in social production, will change. In consequence, the rigid division of labor within the family will be destroyed. There will be a transformation of traditional male and female roles. A woman will become the breadwinner of her family; she will be more and more emancipated (Budig, 2014). She will participate more and more actively in industrial and socio-political life. For this reason, her status and role will change, which will lead to the destruction of gender roles in the family. Such concepts dominated the traditional patriarchal system of values as a family responsibility, duty, and the dominance of the authority of parents and relatives. In the course of modernization, it will become unstable and non-prestigious. It will give way to the values of independence of personal achievements, including the individual achievements of women.
Changes in the family model will affect not only the relationship between spouses but also the relationship between parents and children. The vertical management of the family where the parent is the rule-setter and the child is the subordinate until he can go beyond this family will be broken. When adults begin to pay more attention to their mental health, they will become more attentive to children’s desires, whims, and needs and will start to treat them more reverently and anxiously. Due to this, the family will be deprived of sheer strength, unconditional parental rightness, and child submission. The couples will start having children not because they are the right age but also because they are mentally and psychologically ready. This will lead to a more humane and respectful attitude towards children.
To strengthen the family institution, it is necessary to take into account the crucial role of spiritual factors. Such factors are cultural stereotypes, moral norms, religious beliefs, attitudes to the family as a spiritual value, and attitudes to children and parents. Apparently, for the fundamental strengthening of family values, significant changes are also needed in the relations within the family. The transformation of the family institution – the transition from the traditional model of ties to the secular one will affect all aspects of family relations and family behavior. Modern social trends in family models and family relations naturally dictate the need to analyze the features of the transformation of the family as a social institution. The analysis of the structure, forms, and functions of the family will help ensure society’s social stability.
Reference
Budig, M. J. (2014). The fatherhood bonus and the motherhood penalty: parenthood and the gender gap in pay. Web.