Changing Family Patterns

Changing patterns in divorce

→ Big increase since 1960s; doubled between 69-72

→ Peaked at ==**165k**== in 1993; ==**6x higher than 1961**==

* Fewer marriages at all now

→ 40% of marriages end in divorce

* 65% of petitions come form women
* Most commonly ==**unreasonable behaviour** ==from husband

Factors in likelihood of divorce

→ Young marriage

→ Children/cohabiting pre-marriage

→ Previous marriages

Explanations for increase in divorce

→ Mostly changes in load; used to be hard to obtain

* ==**Equalised**== grounds for divorce between sexes - rise in womens petitions when this happened in 1923

→ Making divorce ==**cheaper**==; legal aid introduced

→ Now ==**easier to obtain than other options**== e.g. desertion/legal separation

* also ==**empty shell marriages**== (married in name only)

→ BUT changes in law @@**dont explain WHY people divorce**@@

Declining stigma and changing attitudes to divorce

→ Churches ==**previously condemned divorce**==

→ Divorce is now socially acceptable, so couples more willing to do it

→ More common = normalised = less stigma

Mitchel & Goody -- divorce stigma

Decline in stigma has been an important change since 1960s

Secularisation -- divorce

→ Churches opposing divorce has **less influence** on soceity

* People less influenced by religious teachings in personal matters

→ Churches softening views on divorce; **fear of losing credibility** with public/members?

Fletcher -- divorce/functionalism

Divorce rates are rising because **people have higher expectations of marriage**

→ People less willing to tolerate unhappy marriages

→ Based on **romantic love, not just duty**

* Previously had to marry based on familial/economic duty, lower expectations
* Were less unsatisfied by lack of intimacy

Functionalist belief on divorce rates

→ People have rising expectations of marriage

→ We now seek ==**personal fulfilment**== in marriage

→ OPTIMISTIC; marriage is still popular and ==**remarriage shows people dont reject it as a whole**==

Evaluation of functionalist explanations of divorce

→ Marriage rates still falling

→ ^^**Feminist**^^; too much of a rosy view, ignores oppression as a cause of conflict

Women’s increased financial independence -- divorce

→ Freer to end unsatisfactory marriages

* More likely to be in paid work
* Equal pay laws to narrow pay gap
* Success for girls in education
* Welfare benefits

→ Separate sources of income from husbands now, so ==**dont have to tolerate it**==

Allen & Crow -- divorce/finances

Marriage is less embedded in the economy now

→ Fewer family businesses

→ No longer a unit of production

Feminist explanations of divorce

→ Marriage is still patriarchal

* ==**Dual burdens/triple shifts**==
* Men benefit from marriage

Hochschild -- divorce/feminist

Home compares badly with work for most women

→ Valued at work, not for housework

→ Both partners working = less time for emotion work to address issues + prevent divorce

Sigle-Rushton -- divorce/feminist

Mothers who face a dual burden are more likely to divorce than non-working mothers

Bernard -- divorce/radical feminism

Women are dissatisfied with patriarchal marriage

→ Rising divorce rate + petitions from women show **acceptance of feminist ideology**

→ Women are conscious of oppression, ==**confident in rejecting it**==

Beck & Giddens -- divorce/modernity

Traditional norms like duty to have a partner for life have less impact in modern society

→ ==**Individualisation thesis**==; individuals free to pursue own self-interests

→ We seek ==**pure relationships**== based on satisfying our needs, not duty/tradition, will leave if unsatisfied

→ Modern society encourages individualism, can cause conflict between spouses

Meaning of a high divorce rate according to the New Right

→ Undesirable, undermines traditional nuclear family

→ Creates group of welfare-dependent lone parents

→ Leaves boys without male role models, poorer outcomes for kids

Meaning of a high divorce rate for postmodernists/individualisation thesis

→ Shows people have freedom to end relationships if it doesnt meet their needs

→ Greater family diversity

Meaning of high divorce rate for functionalists

→ Not a threat to marriage as an institution

→ Result of higher expectations

→ High remarriage rate = people still committed to marriage

Meaning of high divorce rate for interactionists

→ What does divorce mean to the individual?

→ We cant generalise meaning of divorce; everyone interprets it differently

Meaning of a high divorce rate for personal life perspective

→ Divorce causes problems e.g. lack of contact between children/parents, financial issues

→ Should see divorce as ==**one transition among others in the life course**== rather than as a major issue

→ Divorce is normalised, so family life can adapt without disintegrating

Marriage today

→ Less people marry; lowest rates since 1920s, 1/3 are remarriages

→ ==**Serial monogamy**==; pattern of marriage, divorce, remarriage

→ Marrying later

→ Fewer church marriages

Reasons for fewer first marriages

→ Changing attitudes to marriage

→ Secularisation

→ Declining stigma for alternatives

→ Position of women

→ Fear of divorce

Reasons for more remarriages

→ Rise in divorce gives supply of people to remarry

Reasons for rising marriage age

→ Young people spend longer in education/establishing a career

→ People cohabit for longer before marriage

Reasons for less church weddings

→ Secularisation (religious ceremonies irrelevant)

→ Churches refusing to marry divorcees

Coast -- cohabiting

75% of people expect to marry their cohabiting partner

→ Often part of the process of getting married e.g. while awaiting divorce

→ Could also be a permanent alternative to marriage

Same-sex relationships

→ Increased acceptance

* Opinion polls and legislation

→ Social policies treating couples more equally

* Civil Partnership Act, Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act
* Cohabiting couples having same adoption rights as married couples

→ Generally more flexible/equal; ==**lack of legal framework meant partners had to negotiate commitment/responsibilities**==

Weeks -- couples/chosen families

Gay people create ‘==**chosen families**==’ based on **‘**==**friendship as kinship**==**’**

Weston -- couples/same sex

Many gay couples cohabit as stable partners ‘==**quasi-marriage**==’

→ Contrasts with 1970s gay lifestyle which rejected monogamy

Einasdottir -- couples/same sex

Some gay people fear legal marriage **limits flexibility in their relationships**

→ Rejection of heterosexual marriage norms

One-person households

→ Rise in people living alone (==30% of households in 2013==)

→ 40% of those are 65+

→ Men under 65 most likely to live alone

Reasons for change in one-person households

→ Increase in separation/divorce; **especially men under 65**

* Children likely to live with mum after divorce

→ Decline in marriage/marrying later = living alone longer

→ People making choice to live alone

Living apart together

→ 10% of adults are ==**in a relationship but not cohab/married**==

→ Many dont think couples need to live together to have a strong relationship

→ 20% of people view LATs as an ideal relationship

Childbearing -- parents/children

→ 47% of children born outside wedlock; double number of 1986

* Usually registered by both parents, may be **cohabiting**

→ ==**Women have fewer children, later**==

→ More women remaining childless

* 1/4 of women born 1973 childless by 45

Reasons for changes in childbearing patterns

→ Births out of wedlock due to less stigma/increased cohab

→ Later age to have kids/smaller farms/childless women = ==**women have more options than motherhood**==

* May focus on their careers

Lone-parent families

→ 1/4 of families with kids

→ 90% headed by a mother

→ Children in these families ==**twice as likely to be in poverty**==

Reason for rise in LP families

→ Increase in divorce

→ Increase in births out of wedlock

→ Decline in stigma to these issues

Reasons for most LP families being female-led

→ Belief women are more nurturing

→ Courts give mother custody

→ Men less willing to give up work for kids

→ Women being ==**single by choice**==

* May want to avoid cohab/marriage
* May want to limit father involvement

Murray -- lone parenthood/NR

Growth of LP families is result of over-generous welfare state towards unmarried mothers

→ Creates ==**perverse incentive**==; rewarding ‘irresponsible’ behaviour (having kids if you cant provide)

→ Creates ==**dependency culture**==

→ We should abolish welfare

Evaluation of Murray/New Right on lone parenthood

→ Welfare is far from generous

→ LP families more likely to be in poverty

Why are LP families so likely to be in poverty?

→ Lack of affordable childcare so parents cant work

→ Inadequate welfare

→ Most LPs women who generally earn less

→ Fathers failing to pay maintenance

Stepfamilies + reconstituted families

→ Becoming more popular

→ 10% of families with dependent children

Allan & Crow -- reconstituted families

Stepfamilies face problem of **divided loyalties**, tension due to contact with non-resident parent

Reasons for patterns in reconstituted families

→ Formed when LPs form new partnerships; ==**factors for increase in LPs are same for stepfamilies**==

→ More children in stepfamilies from woman’s side, because kids tend to stay with mother

→ Stepparents at greater risk of poverty; ==**may be supporting kids from prev. relationship**==

→ Tension; ==**lack of clear social norms on behaviour in these families**==

Ethnic differences in family patterns

→ Immigration since 1950s is major cause of ethnic diversity

→ This diversifies family patterns

Black family patterns

→ More LP families; half of families with children headed by black people

* vs 1/9 Asian, 1/4 whole pop

→ Largely female-headed LP; family disorganisation

→ Traces back to unemployment among black males; less able to provide

Mirza -- black families

High rate of black LP families reflects **value black women place on independence**

Reynolds -- black families

Stats are misleading; many ‘lone parents’ are in stable/supportive, non-cohabiting relationships

Asian family patterns

→ Bigger; often 3-gen, nuclear

* Value extended family more

→ Sikhs/Muslims/Hindus more likely to live in extended families than other religions/ethnicities

Ballard -- Asian families

Extended family ties provide **major support system** for Asian migrants in 50s/60s

→ Houses largely shared by extended families

→ Relatives live nearby; ==**close kinship networks**==

Parsons -- extended family

Ext. family dominant in pre-industrial society

→ Replaced by nuclear in modern industrial society

Functionalists on the extended family today

Family changes to fit the needs of soceity

Charles -- extended family/funct

Classic 3-gen family living together is **all but extinct**

→ Only significant exceptions found among Bangladeshis

Willmott -- extended family/funct

Ext fam now exists as a ==**dispersed extended family**==

→ Relatives now **geographically separate, keep contact via visits/calls**

→ Survives because it performs functions for members

Bell -- extended fam/funct

Families have emotional bonds with kin/rely on them for support e.g. child rearing, money

→ Help different depending on social class

* W/c help domestically mother-daughter
* M/c help financially father-son

Brannen -- beanpole family

Family now extends vertically through generations, not horizontally

→ Grandparent/parent/kid vs aunts/uncle/cousins

→ DUe to:

* ==**Increased life expectancy**==; more grandparents
* ==**smaller families**==; fewer horizontal ties e.g. siblings

Finch & Mason -- obligation to relatives

Over 90% of people give/receive financial help, half care for sick relatives

→ Generally more expected of females than males

Cheale -- obligation to relative

Help given first by a spouse, then by daughter, third by daughter in law, lastly by son

→ Daughters are preferred for personal care if not a spouse

→ Daughters rarely chosen to provide money

Evidence on extended family

→ Still important for support

→ Different to ^^Parsons^^’ classsic extended family, where members were bound by obligation + lived together