Generational and Cultural Changes in Family Life in the United Arab Emirates: A Comparison of Mothers and Daughters

Abstract

An exploratory study of daughters and their mothers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), guided by modernity theory is reported. The UAE has come from a desert nomadic culture to a high tech oil rich nation in just the past 40 years and is a key place to assess the impact of rapid development and fast paced transformations on family life. Differences and trends in gender and family role attitudes, child care practices, cultural values, perceptions about religion, and beliefs toward fertility practices were compared between matched pairs of daughters and mothers. Many traditional beliefs and customs still exist in the UAE, but major shifts in attitudes toward marriage and family life were observed. Some of the major changes include: daughters plan to choose their husbands and to marry much later in life than their mothers did, daughters will have a formal higher education, whereas most mothers did not have access to higher education, daughters were born in modern medical facilities while mothers were born in a home or a desert tent, and most of the daughters plan to have a professional career while nearly all mothers were full time home makers. There is agreement, however, between mothers and daughters regarding the belief that faith in Islam will protect their children from future problems.