A family is a basic unit in which a child develops and grows up. The role of parents in child development is crucial. Through time, the concept of the family unit has been changing and consequently also the roles of mother and father. The role of the father in the past mostly presented a strong commitment to ensuring family survival and the father was involved in child-raising on an exceptional basis. On the other hand, the mother mostly contributed to the children raising and carried out housekeeping tasks. In the first half of the twentieth century, the role of women in society dramatically changed. Namely, the share of employed women significantly increased and this also strongly affected the role of the mother. Notwithstanding the above-mentioned social changes happened, the mother remains to be the most important person in a child’s life.
In the theoretical section, I have defined a family, its functions and how the family was changing through time. Besides, I presented various raising models, the role of mother and father, motherhood of today and in the future. I have also touched on historical changes in the employment of women which caused certain consequences in respect of woman’s family role.
As a part of my research work, I have presented a qualitative analysis based on nine half-structured interviews of mothers of different ages. Namely, my thesis aims to present the role of the mother, which was changing through time.
Results of the research have shown that that the role of women has changed dramatically through history and this fact also impacted significantly the role of mother in the family including with the changes in child raising methods. Research has also shown the changes in the father’s role, especially in respect of increased involvement of the father in child-raising process.
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