The networked family

Richard Nicholls, The Future Foundation, gives an insight into how the family has adapted in response to changing social and economic conditions…

While some commentators continue to worry aloud that the family is in decline, we argue here that – in the 21st century – it is a unit more democratic, connected and networked than ever before.

Driven in part by the notion that yesteryear was an altogether happier and more cohesive place, many have been willing to believe that the family must be in crisis – that modern times have led to a breakdown of traditional values and that today’s family unit is less unified, less powerful, less prominent in daily life…

But such a mindset, while able to win regular support, may underestimate just how the family has adapted in response to changing social and economic conditions. Facilitated by ever-improving routes of communication, we argue that the family of the 10s is more connected than at any previous point. Indeed, instead of promoting any sense of disconnection or de-personalisation, the digital revolution has facilitated higher levels of inter-familial contact; it is now just so much easier to keep up-to-date with one’s family or share seamlessly any news or recommendations or advice.

So too are seeing the family unit become a) more composite, with friends, extended relatives and grandparents in particular all being integrated more frequently and comprehensively and b) more democratic, with the core unit (however it may be composed) more often functioning as a team. In particular, many children now make an important contribution to household decisions and have become a more vocal component within the consumer unit that is the modern family. And while the economic difficulties of the day may be making some parents unwilling to relinquish the reins of control, this is a trend which will grow only more potent as the networked society develops during the coming decade.

The family unit, although often now more diverse in form than in previous generations, is still the central unit around which so many day-to-day activities are coordinated. Indeed, nVision Research suggests that, within family households, our meals, media consumption and out-of-home leisure pursuits are still very much group affairs. Offers which facilitate this – by, say, inviting relatives of all ages to participate in the same activity or connecting them via social networks – are very much in the groove of this trend.

Many children now enjoy the opportunity to influence such decisions as the brands their parents buy and the activities they undertake. And thus, in some contexts, marketing communications need to speak to both audiences simultaneously, engaging both the child influencer and the adult purchaser. And as grandparents, extended relatives and other figures play an increasingly active role in family life, no brand can assume that it is speaking to an audience comprised solely of parents + children.

Indeed, grandparents in particular are now a lucrative market to target – with many closely involved in family life and enjoying levels of relative financial comfort. Ever fewer companies will view this segment as inactive or technophobic.

There is just no sense that family life will become any less networked in the coming years: the development of smart televisions and (niche) social networks, as well as the further penetration of tablet computers and smartphones, will propel this trend forward, inviting family members to connect and interact at ever more points of the day.

As children begin using mobiles, networks and other e-tools from earlier ages and to ever greater levels of sophistication, parents may demand new ways to exert control over their activities, purchases, online identities.

With financial pressures continuing to make mortgages for many first-time buyers seem more aspirational than viable, large numbers of adult children will remain in the homes of their parents until later in their lives. Evolving family models can be expected to give rise to offers marketed at families rather than individuals – and this will have particular relevance in the financial services sector as younger consumers are helped on to the property ladder by parents and there is greater scope for shared loans, insurance policies, mortgages… And this will most certainly rebalance consumption dynamics and reshape the ways in which several household decisions are made – especially as older relatives live for longer and it becomes more common for family groups to comprise three or even four generations.

For more, please contact: Richard Nicholls 020 3008 6103 / richardn@futurefoundation.net