The Family in the Transition Process in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

The entire transitional process in the Republic of Macedonia undoubtedly affected the status and the role of the family in the country in all the basic family functions. In essence, the elements of transition consisted of the fall of the collectivist social system, most apparent in the transformation of the ownership structure from state-owned to private-owned, pluralization of almost all society spheres (political system, culture, education, the sphere of conceptualization). These changes which mostly took place in the period between 1985-2005 affected the structure, the function of the family and family life in general. The family in RM was, for the most part, captured by pauperization processes, followed by the need and necessity to manage to function in market conditions, in a plurality political system, and the process of globalization that our country was part of. The family in RM was subject to changes in all its functions: economic, upbringing and educational, protective, in the function of creating relationships of understanding, solidarity and aid, as well as in the mutual relations of family members. The statistical data shows frequent occurrence of divorces, family violence, , single-parent families, the existence of requests and practice of same gender families, and decline in marriage rates. We should also analyze the most common number of children in the families, which is between 1 and 3 and the married couples' renunciation of having more than one child due to the difficult economical, spatial, organizational conditions and hardship. The subject of analysis of this study shall be the aspect ratio between the basic transitional flows and functions of the family, its adaptation to the new conditions, which implies the elements of family crisis in the matter of the social processes and the relations within the family.