家庭结构是家庭结构的类型，这些类型的结构主要是根据世代记忆结构、婚姻状况、亲属关系等因素。一般来说，家庭有五种类型，例如单亲家庭、核心家庭和继家庭。首先，多家庭被称为联合家庭或扩大家庭，指的是两代夫妇及其子女，以及更多的亲属家庭，包括已婚兄弟。这种家庭类型的人最多，其次，直系家庭被命名为STEM家庭，包括夫妻、父母、子女，甚至第四代。第三，核心家庭包括两个家庭和未结婚的子女，包括单亲家庭、继家庭和空巢家庭；第四，单身家庭是指未婚或丧偶，离婚后的独居家庭生活。最后，还有特殊的家庭，比如同性恋家庭（Crompton，1996年）。
Family structure is the type of family structure, and these types of structure is mainly according to the generation remember structure, marital status, and kinship and other factors. Generally speaking, there are five types of family, for exapmle,lone parent families, nuclear families and step families.First, multipe-family is called for combined family or expanded family, refers to two generations of couples and their children, and more family of relatives, including married brothers. This family type has the highest number of people.Second,lineal family is named of stem family, including the husband and wife, parents, children, even the fourth generation. Third, the nuclear family involes a couple of households and children unmarried, includinglone parent families, step family and empty nester family.Fourth, single family refers to never married or widowed, the alone family life after divorced. Finally, there is special family such as gay family(Crompton,1996).
18世纪英国社会传统家庭比其他家庭都要多，扩大家庭成为当时社会的主流。然而，世界近代工业革命却掀起了人类历史的一次飞跃。随着科学技术的飞速发展，人类生活方式的改变，传统的婚姻家庭受到现代潮流的猛烈冲击，传统的家庭制度和家庭观念面临着时代的挑战，尤其是20世纪后期，由于社会的原因，家庭受到了前所未有的冲击。发展、人民观念的转变和人格的解放，核心家庭类型已成为主流（休斯，2004年）。我们将从以下几个方面探讨家庭性质改变的原因。
In the 18th century, Britshsocial traditional family was more than others family, and the expanded family had become the mainstream of the society at that time. However,modern industrial revolution in the world aroused a leap of human history. With the rapid development of science and technology, human life style changed, traditional marriage family is violently impacted by the modern trend, the traditional family system and the family idea faces the challenge of times, especially in the later of 20 th century, the family has suffered from the unprecedented impac,because of the society development, the changes of the people idea and the liberation of the personality, nuclear family type has become main trend(Hughes,2004).We will discuss the reasons of changing the nature of family from the following aspects.
For one thing, in the past, most of women did not go to work, they must take care of their children and her husband, even the parents of her husband. “The majority of women did not have opportunities to job which could pay enough money for them”( Crompton,1997). This suggest that the women can not have the same right as men in the societal life, Even they fortunately can go to have a job, but they are paid less money. They are hardly be respected by men. But with the social and economic development, the woman status invisibly raised.
Since the 1960s, female idea on the occupation has had the biggest change. The French writer Gilles Lipovetsky pointed out that 80% of French people think the women engaged in the work could succeed in life by 1990. In the UK, it also had similar change trend. The change of idea directly reflects the increase of women's work number. To the later 90s, British women in labour markets are more than the proportion of males in the UK. This is the first time in the history. In 1994, the number of women participating in paid work has already accounted for 53%( Gittings,1985). This point is very obvious in young people. Therefore, it has become a behoove phenomenon which is the husband and wife work together and earn double pay.
In addition to the number of work change, female evaluation on theirself competence and their employment structure also have change. Since the 1960s, the number and proportion of girls applying for go to university began to rise. They not only study arts and social sciences, but also more and more female students turn up in biological sciences and mathematics field. They show more positive attitude to job and show better flexibility and sociability. Their efforts are paid to a certain extent.
In the 1980s and 1990s, British women had main goal: female independent organically combined with female features. On the one hand, they will continue to pursue independence. They hope to find their own the field except the family. On the other hand, they also do not give up natural right as mother. For them, it is important in the process that they fulfill the responsibilities of mothers is not subject to male. So after World War II, women got a "dual role" in the 1980s or 1990s in Britain. Now this image still continues, but the important thing is that they hope to change to overemphasize for the family role through their own more efforts, and increase the significance of their work, minimizing the trouble from the family. They get the same rights as man, they do not need to depend on the men to live( Gittings,1985).
