Changing family patterns

Describe the changing patterns if divorce in the UK

peaking at 165,000 divorces in 1993

The divorce rate has since fallen to 118,000 in 2012. However, this rate means that around 40% of marriages will end in divorce.

65% of applications for a divorce come from the woman, compared to just 37% in 1946

How have changes in lawsled to an increase in divorce

Law changes include:

widening grounds for divorce - makes divorce easier to obtain

equalising the grounds for divorce between men and women

Making divorce cheaper - Introduction of legal aid for divorce in 1949 lowered teh cost of divorce

How has declining stigma led to an increase in divorce according to Goody and Mitchel;

Goody and Mitchell note that an imprtant change in attitudes to divorce from the church in the 60s greatly reduced the stigma attached to divorce. As well as this, the fact that divorce is more common 'normalises it, so there is less stigmatisation towards it

How has secularisation led to a decline in divorce

As religious institutions lose their influence, and society becomes more secular, such as declining numbers of churchgoers, religious perspectives on divorce are less influential.

As well as this, many churches and religions have cahnegd their perspectives to divorce and accept it

How have rising expectations of marriage led to an increase in teh divorce rate

This is linked to the ideology of romantic love, based on the idea that a marriage should be purely based on love. Therefore, if there is no longer any love, there is no reason to remain married.

However, in the past people had little choice in who they married, and marriages were created largely for economic reasons. under these circumstances, individuals were unlikely to have high expectations about marriage, so they were less likely to be dissatisfied.

Describe some ways that show women are no longer financially dependent on the man

As of 2023, 72% of the women in teh UK were in employment

Availability of welfare benefits means women are no longer economically reliant on the man

girls have greater success in education, allowing for them to achieve better paying jobs

What are the different views of a high divorce rate

New right - The new right see a high divorce rate as undesirable, as it undermines marriage and the traditional nuclear family. They see higehr divorce rates as creating a growing underclass

Feminists - Feminsist see a high divorce rate as desirable as it shows that women are breaking free of patriarchal oppression

Functionalists - argue that a high divorce rate is not necessarily a threat to marriage as a social institution, but the result of people’s higher expectations of marriage, evidenced by high rates of remarriage

Interectionists - Morgan argues that we cant generalise about the meaning of divorcem as every individuals intepretation is different.

How has marriage changed over time

in 2012, there were 175,000 first marriages for both partners, less than half that of 1970

More remarriages, where in 2012, 1/3 of all marriages were remarriages for one or both partners

People are marrying later - The average age of forst marriage rose by seven years from 1971 and 2012, where it was 32 for men and 30 for women

provide evidence of rising numbers of couples cohabiting

2.9 million cohabitinh heterosexual couples in the UK

Estimated 69,000 homosexual cohabiting couples

What are the reasons for an increase in cohabitation

Thye are a result of a declining stigma attached to outside of marriage sex. In 1989, only 44% of people agreed sex outside of marriage isnt wrong, compared to 65% in 2012

Young people ar emore likely to accept cohabitation

Describe the relationship between cohabitation and marriage with evidence from Coast

Chester argues that for most people, cohabitation is a part of the process of getting married. Accoridng to Coast, 75% of all cohabiting couples say that they expect to marry each other

What is the view of cohabitation as a trial marriage

Many couples see cohabitation as a ‘trial marriage’. Most decide to marry if they have children, and in some cases cohabitation is a temporary phase before amrriage as one or both of the partners are awaiting divorce

On the other hand, some see cohabitation as a permanent alternative to marriage. Bejin found that some young people argue cohabitation represents a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal marriage than the conventional patriarchal marriage

How has an attitude to same sex relationships changed

Same sex relationships now acount for around 5% of all adult relationships. This is due to declining stigma, along with it being legal to have same sex relationships as of 1967.

Social policy now treats all couples more equally. since 2014, same sex couples have been allow to marry, and since 2004 have has similar legal rights to married couples

Describe the chosen family by Weeks, and quasi marriage by Weston

Weeks argues that greater social acceptance has led to more stable same-sex relationships, resembling heterosexual ones. He says gay individuals form "chosen families" based on friendship, offering similar stability.

Weston describes same-sex cohabitation as "quasi-marriage," with many gay couples now choosing stable partnerships, contrasting with the more casual relationships of the 1970s.

Provide evidence of growing one person households

In 2013 3/10 households, around 7.7 million people lived in single person households, nearly 3 times the figure for 1961

What are the reasons for the change in single person households

Increase in seperation and divorce has increased amount of single person households especially among men under 65, as children are more likely to live with their mothers

Lower marriage rates along with the trend of people marrying later

describe the statistics of childbearing in the UK

47% of children in the UK are born outside of marriage

The average age for a woman to have a child rose by 4 years from 1971 to 2012 to 28 years old

More women are remaining childless. It is predicted that a quarter of those born in 1973 will be childless when they reach 45

Describe the statistics for lone parent fanilies

Lone parent families make up 22% of all families with hcildren

90% of these are headed by a lone mother

A child living with a lone parent is twice as likely to be in poverty as a child living with 2 parents

What are the reasons for the patterns of lone parent families

Ease fo access to divorce for women, so they arent confined to a marriage, as well as no longer being economically dependent.

Many lone parent families are female headed as the mother are single by choice. They may not want to cohabit or marry, or limit the father’s involvement with the child. Renvioze found that rpofessional women were able to support their chld without the fathers involvement

What is the new right view on lone parenthood and the welfare state

Murray says that the growth of lone parent families comes from an over dependence on welfare benefits for unmarried mothers and their children

Murray argues this has created a perverse incentive, where irresponsibel behaviour is rewarded, such as having childrenw ithout being able to provide for them. this has therefore created a depndency culture on benefits

Murray says that the solution is to abolish welfare benefits

What are criticisms of teh new right view on lone parenthood and the welfare state

Most lone parents are women, who generally earn less than men

lack of unaffordabke childcare means that 60% of lone parents are unemployed

Describe the statistics and features of step families

Step families account for 10% of families with children in the UK

Ferri and Smith found that stepfamilies are very similae to first families in all major respectsand the involvement of stepparents in childcare is a positive one. Howeverm they found taht step families are at a greater risk of poverty

What are the reasons for the patterns of step families

Step families are formed when lone parents create new partnerships. Therefore the factors causing an increase in the number of lone parents such as divorce and seperation are also responsible for the creation of step families

More children in step families are from teh mother than teh father as in a divorce the mother is more likely to get the children

Describe the features of Black families

Black Caribbean and African families habe a higher proportion of lone parent households. In 2012, over half of families with dependent children headed by a black person were lone parent, compared to just 1 in 9 for the asian population. This trend can be seen as evidence of family disorganisation taht can be traced back to slavery

Mirza argues that the higher rate of lone parent families among black people is not the resut of disorganisation, but rather reflectes the high value that black women place on independence

Describe the features of Asian families

Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to be larger than those of other ethnic groups, at 4.4, 4.3 and 3 people per household respectively, compared to 2.4 for balck and white households.

Larger households reflect the value placed on the extended family in asian cultures. however, ptractical considerations such as the need for assistance when migrating to britain, are alos important.

describe the extended family today

Some argue it has disappeared, while others believe it continues in a different form.

Charles (2008) found that extended families living together were rare in Swansea, except among the Bangladeshi community.

Bell (1968) found working-class families had strong emotional and financial ties with extended kin, while middle-class families relied more on emotional support.

Wilmott (1988) argued that the extended family still exists but in a “dispersed” form, with frequent visits and phone calls maintaining connections.

What is the beanpole family

Brannen describes the beanpole family as ‘long and thin’. It is extended vertically such as parents, children and grandparents, but not horizontally such as uncles, aunts and cousins.

Beanpole families are likely the result of 2 changes, increased life expectancy and smaller family sizesm so people have fewer siblinsg and therefore less horizontal ties

Explain how changing family patterns have influenced obligations to extended family by Finch, Mason and Mason

Changing family patterns show a shift in obligations, though extended family support remains. Finch & Mason found most people still provide financial or caregiving help, but Mason argues this depends on personal relationships and duty.