Working in pairs, refer to Box 5 on page 40 where you will find Michael Anderson’s study of mid-19th century Preston and Tamara Hareven’s study of French Canadian migrants in the American textile industry, from 1880 to 1930.
Both studies stressed the importance of the extended family to people who migrated to cities during early industrialisation.
- Compare the two studies with the description of Asian families on pages 67.
- Draw up a list of all the similarities you can find between the role played by the extended family in early industrial society (as described by Anderson and Hareven), and the role it has played among ethnic minority groups in Britain.
- Are there any differences?
- Can you think of any other ways in which extended kin support each other?
