ABSTRACT
Family formation has changed dramatically in terms of relationship formation and dissolution, child-bearing and child-rearing, and societal and economic pressures. The study of family life has been greatly influenced by Anthony Giddens’ The Transformation of Intimacy. By the end of the twentieth century, globalisation, urbanisation, and rapid technological change had affected the ways in which people lived and worked, as well as their intimate relationships. As industrial capitalism forged the gap between home and work, young people came to expect to make their own choices rather than defer to the views of their family and the community. A concept that arose with industrialisation, of a wage sufficient for a man to support his wife and children. When the British established colonies in Australia, they brought with them ideas about families and family relationships. There has been a marked increase since the 1960s in the number of lone-parent (or one-parent) households with dependent children, both in Australia and overseas.
