The British Family is Evolving

The modern British family is changing.

Whether it’s a household with same-sex partners, single mums, stay-at-home dads, gender-neutral new-borns or transgender parents, the make-up of our families, our relationships and our homes is evolving.

Our society is now more diverse than ever (although, with work still to be done), so it’s inevitable that traditional family models have changed in line with that.

But whatever the aesthetic makeup of the family, the fundamental values at the core of home life are often the same:  people want to love and be loved in a nurturing and safe environment where personal and professional interests are supported and can grow alongside healthy relationships.   

This is just as true when children are involved. Of course, raising children isn't as heteronormative as it was a decade or more ago. 

It’s comforting, therefore, to see the results of a recent survey by Lifecake.  They looked into the evolution of modern British families and found that attitudes were changing, too.

• They found that many considered the UK to be one of the most supportive countries in the world for LGBT parents.
  
• They also report that in 2016, LGBT parents accounted for 9.6% of adoptions in the UK.

Fascinating, too, to see how important gender-neutral parenting is to the younger generation.  This is encouraging because it paves the way for a better understanding and (hopefully) acceptance for those who reject traditional gender roles and labels.

That’s not all that Lifecake revealed:

• 90% of people believed that the workplace is more accommodating to parents today than ten years ago.
  
• There were only 80 adoptions by same-sex couples between 2007-8, but for 2015-16 there were 450.
• 42% of people aged between 18-24 believe that gender-neutral parenting is important.

It's surprising, perhaps, given that much of the British tabloid press (echoed by politicians, the clergy and the public) are insistent on the immutable benefits of the heterosexual nuclear family to the detriment of almost every other domestic set up, but that doesn't appear to be something shared by those polled in this survey.

The results of the poll are encouraging, and you can see the rest of the results on the Lifecake website.