Editing Culture of France (section)

==Families and romantic relationships==
===Household structure===
Growing out of the values of the Catholic Church and rural communities, the basic unit of French society was traditionally held to be the family.<ref>Kelley, "Family", 100.</ref> Over the twentieth century, the "traditional" family structure in France has evolved from various regional models (including [[extended families]] and [[nuclear family|nuclear families]]<ref>Emmanuel Todd, Hervé Le Bras, ''L'invention de la France : atlas anthropologiue et politique'', chapter "Les grandes familles"</ref>) to, after World War II, [[nuclear family|nuclear families]]. Since the 1960s, marriages have decreased and divorces have increased in France, and divorce law and legal family status have evolved to reflect these social changes.<ref>''Ibid''.</ref>

According to [[INSEE]] figures, household and family composition in [[metropolitan France]] continues to evolve. Most significantly, from 1982 to 1999, [[single parent household|single parent families]] have increased from 3.6% to 7.4%; there have also been increases in the number of [[unmarried couple]]s, childless couples, and single men (from 8.5% to 12.5) and women (from 16.0% to 18.5%). Their analysis indicates that "one in three dwellings are occupied by a person living alone; one in four dwellings are occupied by a childless couple.."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insee.fr/en/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATTEF02313&tab_id=31|title=Insee − Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques|website=Insee.fr|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref>

===Civil unions and same-sex marriages===
Voted by the [[French Parliament]] in November 1999 following some controversy, the ''[[pacte civil de solidarité]]'' ("civil pact of solidarity") commonly known as a ''PACS'', is a form of [[civil union]] between two adults (same-sex or opposite-sex) for organizing their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than marriage. From a legal standpoint, a PACS is a "contract" drawn up between the two individuals, which is stamped and registered by the clerk of the court. Individuals who have registered a PACS are still considered "single" with regard to family status for some purposes, while they are increasingly considered in the same way as married couples are for other purposes. While it was pushed by the government of Prime Minister [[Lionel Jospin]] in 1998, it was also opposed, mostly by people on the right-wing who support traditionalist [[family values]] and who argued that PACS and the recognition of homosexual unions would be disastrous for French society.

{{as of|2013}}, [[Same-sex marriage in France|same-sex marriage]] is legally recognized in France. Same-sex marriage was an important factor in the presidential election of 2012 between [[François Hollande]] and [[Nicolas Sarkozy]]. Sarkozy, who represents the right-wing [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]] party, opposed gay marriage, while François Hollande, of the left wing [[Socialist Party (France)|socialist party]], supported it. Hollande was elected in May 2012 and his government proposed the law known as "Marriage pour tous" ("marriage for all") to the parliament in November 2012. The law was passed in April 2013 and validated by the Conseil constitutionnel (the constitutional council, tasked with insuring that the new laws passed do not contradict the French constitution) in May 2013. The first French same-sex marriage took place on 29 May 2013 in Montpellier.