The Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) launched a report, Family Trends, at its annual conference on Monday, charting changes in British families since the 1950s.
The report looks at research into the breakdown of the nuclear family, the increase in cohabitation and decrease in the number of people getting married, the rise of mixed heritage families and an ageing population.
It suggests that three major changes will shape the next decade of family policy: a shift in the meaning of 'family' from being centred on the parent-child relationship to the whole family; a change in the father's role, wanting more involvement but living apart; and the effects of having an overall population that is getting older.
It predicts that mothers will play a less dominant role in their children's lives because of work commitments and fathers will experience a change similar to the shift in women's roles in the 1950s.
Dr Katherine Rake, giving her first speech since her appointment as chief executive of the FPI, said, 'Increases in cohabitation and the decrease in marriages means children living apart from fathers at some time in their lives will be increasingly common. But other members of the family, like grandparents, will be important, too, to provide continuity.
'Policymakers must not fall into the trap of investing large sums of money trying to reverse the tide of trends by trying to encourage more "traditional families", nor should parents allow them to fall back on old assumptions which has meant mothers carrying the burden of changing families and parenting demands.'
Further information
www.familyandparenting.org/Families 2020
Dr Rake also called for services designed for the whole family, suitable for both men and women and that make no assumption about who the main carer is.