Ethnic differences

tell me about black families and single parenthood?

Black-Caribbean and Black-African families made up of higher proportion of female headed matrifocal single parents

give me a statistic for this?

Over ½ families with dependant children headed by a black person were single-parent families (equivalent figure for population as a whole is 25%)

what is one explanation for this?

Family disorganisation

• historically, black males have faced higher rates of unemployment and poverty

• makes it harder for them to provide (stress)

• leads to higher rates of marital breakdown and desertion

what is the second explanation?

Independence

• Mirza: family disorganisation is a poor explanation - a better explanation is that black women place high value on independence

what is a criticism for these explanations?

• statistics claiming higher rates of single parenthood in Black families are misleading - government defines “single” as not married and not living together, but many of these parents are actually in stable, supportive relationships, just not living with their partner

tell me about Asian families and the extended network?

South Asian families r=tend to be larger than those of any other ethnicity - evidenced by Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus being most likely to live in extended family units

what are 3 explanations for this?

1. Larger household partly because of younger age profile of British Asians - more of childbearing age

2. Value placed on hierarchy and respect in extended family in Asian cultures

3. More family members can be of practical help when migrating