ENGLISH FAMILY ORGANIZATION.

by Nico P, Santiago and Aldana. 

Family traditions in England can stretch back do hundreds of years, through lots of generations, or have just been made up in the last fifty years. For many years on Sunday, lots of families enjoy 'Sunday Dinner' which usually takes longer to prepare and is considered higher quality and more special. Sunday Dinner normally consists of: Lamb, Turkey, or another type of meat that is roasted, roasted potatoes, and peas and a variety of small vegetables. Sometimes, it is acceptable to drink red wine with Sunday Dinner. Sunday Dinner may be linked to the Christian religion, as Sunday is considered a day to go to church if you are religious and more people used to go to church, and it could be considered a small celebration. At Christmas it is common in most English speaking countries to send close friends and relatives 'Christmas cards' through the post, often with a small greeting such as 'Merry/Happy Christmas' and 'Seasons Greetings', though the latter is more common in North America, as it generalises the holiday so that more people celebrate it without being exclusive. Most families put up a Christmas tree, usually either a fir tree, pine tree or today artificial trees are much more common. People decorate the trees with bubbles, little spherical shaped objects, usually with glitter and lots of bright colours, Christmas lights, Christmas cards suspended from strings, and on top, people put either a model of a fairy or angel, or a star. At Christmas, some of the most enthusiastic households go out and walk around the neighbourhood knocking on their neighbours doors and singing Christmas carols to try and spread Christmas awareness and celebration and normally a small tip is expected. At Christmas the patriotic families gather near the television to listen to the queen's speech which is when the Queen reflects on the year and talks about the achievements of the nation. At least once in the week lots of families have a day out, which can range from the local playground, a shopping centre, to a zoo or multiplex cinema. Adults sometimes go to a public house to buy beer and play darts and it is not uncommon to have a television or projector showing a game of football, tennis or cricket. On Saturday lots of people tune in to watch football, or sometimes go to a football stadium to see action in real life.

Marriage: among many members of the South Asian and Jewish communities, arranged marriages as a means of cementing family alliances are the norm. Most inhabitants, however, decide independently whom to marry, often choosing to cohabit with the partner before marriage. Social position, social aspirations, and control unit choice of a marriage partner. Thus, marriages across class lines are not common, especially among unskilled workers and the professional and managerial classes. Marriages across ethnic lines also are not common. As a reason for marriage, economic security is prominent, but so is the desire for sexual
and social companionship. While marriage between a man and a woman remains the primary model for long-term relationships, it is not the only one. Same-sex unions and so-called blended families are increasingly common. . Current gender roles dictate that men are the primary breadwinners and women are responsible for household management.
Inheritance: Children rarely depend on inherited wealth to become independent and usually inherit movable property rather than real estate. When real estate is involved, it often consists of a home and the attached land, not agricultural land. Most people follow the principle of equal division of inherited wealth among offspring, with some favoritism toward biological offspring in blended families.
Kin Groups: People envision themselves as part of a set of interconnected families, the size of which varies with marital status and family traditions. Most people include three to four generations of people in their kin group
Social Stratification
Classes and Castes: Class is the primary way in which people approach social stratification. The upper class (the landed gentry, the titled nobility, and members of the royal family) has roughly the same social position it has had since the nineteenth century, when the middle classes began to compete successfully with the landed interests for influence. However, the upper class lost official political influence (and credibility) in the twentieth century. The major change in England's social identity structure has been the shrinking number of workers in manufacturing and the increasing number of people who work in service industries.
The middle class has increased in size and wealth, and home ownership has increased, while union membership has declined dramatically, along with the size of the traditional industrial working class.Most workers expect unemployment at some point in their careers, especially the unskilled and uneducated.
Indians, on the other hand, have faired better, currently occupying a central position in the middle class as entrepreneurs and in the professions, enjoying chances of employment more comparable to whites.