Researchers are partly at fault in the retention of narrow conceptions of the family because we have continued to measure and describe families almost exclusively in the context of households. Yet, the evidence is overwhelming from the support networks approach that we live in multiple- household families. It is even possible that with modern means of transport and communication, the multiple- household family is increasing in significance. It is only with a broad conception of families as just described that we can design policies for families that are set within the realities of family life in Australia and set within the context of what people themselves consider to be important. We need to give up on family policies which do not recognise that the family extends beyond the front door.
Family is a beyond-household concept.
In defining family policies, we have a very strong tendency to compartmentalise or, perhaps, Departmentalise the components of family life, rather than attempting to examine the broad needs of the family. We identify a problem related to an individual, say unemployment. We then treat the problem as if it is an individual problem. We talk a lot about the unemployed individuals, but we do not hear much about the impacts on the children. Consider the impact on a child of the long-term unemployment of the child's father.