Since 2008, government statistics reveal that the UK's share of married couple families has declined, while the share of cohabiting couple families has increased to the become the second-largest family type at 17.9% of the population.
In place of the traditional nuclear family model, there has been a huge rise in the number and variety in non-traditional family units, with today’s family structures increasingly complex. Unmarried couples, gay couples, mixed race couples, transgender parental figures, parents who do parenting apart, step families, intergenerational families, divorced parents, single parents – it’s clear that the 2.4 children family, as we know it, is a dying demographic.
And yet this traditional model of family structure is, above all, the single most over-represented and over-catered group when it comes to advertising, marketing and services. In the advertising world, you have 30 seconds to convey an immediate message, so such messages are often overly reliant on traditional representations because it resonates more with our lazy definition of a ‘family’.
'The lack of diversity and inclusion within the creative sector leaves little empathy for the nuances and cultural sensitivities of the eclectic groups it endeavours to target'
Why is this point important? Advertising and branding is one form of communication that we willingly choose to bring into our homes. Our continued exposure to archaic norms does nothing to move the needle on diversity and inclusivity in real terms. In fact, these continued codes, built on a framework of bias underpinned by an American Dream-style ideal, makes us particularly susceptible to accepting messages that perpetuate discrimination.
As intolerance and hate crimes rise, exacerbated by toxic political discourse fuelled, not least, by the Trump presidency and the campaign around Brexit, advertisers and brands can wield considerable clout in tackling harmful partisan thinking and unconscious bias. Where politics is failing people, companies, advertisers and brands could be our last bastion of hope.
