Recently I have been thinking about changes in the perception of the family and its relationship to the community. I am surprised this has led me to be so upbeat.

Perhaps after the Second World War, the freedom of the 1960s was necessary. However, its downside was selfishness. The emphasis was on the fulfilment of the desires of the individual and, at its most inclusive, the nuclear family. This highlighted the generation gap and denigrated the worth of the extended family and the community.

This deepened during the 1970s, 80s and early 90s. Divorces tended to be bitter and money-orientated, with fathers getting the better financial deal but losing their close relationship to their children.

Slowly but surely the pendulum has started to swing the other way. The housing shortage has kept the young at home longer. The warmth and stability of the families in many ethnic and immigrant communities has been a beacon. Social networking has reduced the sense of dislocation when moving home. Equally, the computer has meant that more and more can do a substantial amount of work from home. Parents are asserting rights to a greater say in how their children are taught. Working hours are more flexible. Fathers are getting a better deal on seeing their children after divorce. Grandparents have just acquired greater rights to see their grandchildren.

Statistics appear to confirm that old family and community values are reasserting themselves.

I predict that there will be a cultural shift back to the family as the basic element of society, rather than money.

Ultimately, the community is an intersecting, extended family, and it also will rejuvenate and be reborn.

It is my hope, though, that the rate of marriage increases, the rate of divorce decreases — and that I am kept in a job by creating pre-nuptial and pre-relationship agreements which will form the bedrock of a stable family and a stable community.

John Arnott