Right-wing populists internationally have aligned with conservative religious interests in defence of the so-called ‘natural family’, built on the nucleus of a married heterosexual couple required to play binary gender roles. This family model, according to a major UN report published 25 June, is neither universal nor a norm. Families are becoming more diverse – primarily because of women’s increasing empowerment and choice.
Couples with children under 18 years old comprise only 33% of households worldwide. Almost as common, in developing countries, are extended families with multiple generations living together. There is also a growing number of what the report calls ‘emerging’ families, including same-sex partners, sibling-based households, and ‘blended families’ with married or cohabiting partners with children from previous unions.
Conservatives and human rights advocates will be alternatively alarmed and energised by the data and research in ‘Families in a Changing World’ – the 2019-2020 report in UN Women’s flagship ‘Progress of the World’s Women’ series. That such a rigorous, research-based report on this topic was produced at all, and at this particular moment, is significant.
