Turning Hearts of Children and Fathers: Legal Recognition of Extended Families
LES SOLIDARITIES ENTRE GENERATIONS, SOLIDARITIES BETWEEN GENERATIONS 203-212 (Bruylant 2013)
Posted: 10 Jan 2014
Date Written: May 13, 2013
Abstract
This paper looks at the evolution through history of the sentiment of solidarity and the role of the extended family. It challenges the belief that the extended family has withered; rather, extended families are alive and important, but not dependent upon the law for survival.
The French changed their motto from stating: liberty, equality, solidarity to liberty, equality, fraternity. This motto focuses more on the individual in the individual sense; that the individual is the center instead of the group to which that individual belongs. The sentiment of solidarity centers around the idea that the person is connected to the whole, the family, a social or professional group or even the nation.
In America, 60% of the states have filial support laws; however, they are rarely enforced. The principles survives in the abstract but rarely in governmental action. Such laws also are common in other nations, especially in Europe.
Although solidarity extends to all groups or organizations in life, it also extends to those no longer living. A person is connected to their posterity as well as those who preceded them. Generational solidarity is just as prevalent and important as other familial and societal connections.
Increased recognition of extended families and their importance may help turn the tide of the disintegration of families due to cohabitation, divorce, child-bearing out of wedlock, etc.
Keywords: solidarity, generation, generational, hearts, father, children, family, connection, society
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