 Dear students, in this module, we are going to discuss the development of family life in modern societies. Family life has changed significantly over the past century, particularly in the developed countries. These changes include declining marriage rates, later marriages, higher divorce rates and increased cohabitation. In today's society, we see that family life has changed significantly over the past century. The major changes include the fact that marriage rates are being increased over the past century. More and more marriages are delayed so that economic or employment opportunities are first secured and then married. So, today's world's preference is financial status, not marital status. Along with this, there are higher divorce rates. In today's world, if you talk about the Pakistani society, you would often see news that you would also read in the media that how in the recent past, divorce rates have been exponentially high in Pakistan. And then the biggest thing is that increased level of cohabitation, the conventional or traditional concept of marriage, which was related to your special life or religious ideology, in which two individuals form a relationship or relationship on the basis of formal contact. Now, this concept is gradually being developed in the modern world. And in this place, cohabitation relationships have taken place in which two consented individuals, when they meet each other and decide that they want to stay in a relationship with each other, they can stay. And for this, they don't necessarily understand the process of marriage. Globally, families are becoming more diverse in structure with single parent families, blended families, and same-sex families. They are becoming more and more common, particularly in the western Europe. The rise of women's employment and education has led to the changes in gender roles and the way in of household labour. So, in today's family structure and family life, we are seeing that gender roles are being changed. Women don't necessarily understand that their responsibilities are only household chores, children's privilege. Rather, they equally understand that the way a man can go into a professional life and create financial opportunities for himself, the same way a woman can contribute to financial opportunities. So, the traditional gender roles in which women's responsibilities were only household chores, children's privilege was only household chores. Now, they have shifted, and both men and women equally understand that this is their equal responsibility, that children's education is also their responsibility, and also that financial responsibility is also their responsibility. So, advances in reproductive technology and changing social attitudes towards sexuality have also impacted our family life. So, as technological advancements are taking place, we are seeing that the technology that women have created is very easy for them. And for those of us who call it a crisis, because of technological advancements, women don't necessarily want to give birth to a child, and for that, they have the facility or the opportunity to give birth to their child to someone else. So, this technological advancement is very interesting on the family unit, it has a major significant effect, and we are seeing that family as a unit as an institution has evolved a lot compared to the traditional family. Along with this, a lot of issues are being created in which the child's identity is a big issue, and the child's parental identity is also a big issue. So, all these processes are producing a unique family system in modern society. COVID-19 pandemic has also had a significant impact on family life, including increased stress, job loss, and disruptions to child care and education. So, in recent past, this has been a big incident, because of which we are seeing that the effects of this are on the structure, on the mobility, and overall on its financial conditions. So, because of this, a big factor has come forward, is that the diverse rate of COVID-19 has also increased exponentially. So, food for thought for you is that you should see how COVID-19 has affected our overall marriage patterns, overall family infrastructure, family structure, and this whole family institution, in which your marriage pattern is a diverse process, and the most important thing is the socialization of the children. So, food for thought for you.