families- changing family patterns

marriage

• fewer people marrying: 2012 175,000 first marriages - less than half 1970

• more re marriages 2012 1/3 all marriages were - leading to serial monogamy

• people marrying later average age rose by 7 years between 1971 and 2012 32 for men and 30 for women

• less likely to marry in church 1981 60% weddings conducted with religious ceremonies fallen 30% by 2012

reasons for changing marriage patterns

• changing attitudes to marriage - less pressure and more freedom to choose type of relationship they want

• secularisation- freer to choose not to marry

• declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage- cohabitation, remaining single, having children outside marriage acceptable

• changes in position of women- less economically dependent on men so freedom not to marry

• fear of divorce

• remarriages - rise in divorce

cohabitation

• number cohabitating increasing

• cohabitating with children growing family type

• one in eight adults cohabiting double number in 1996

• 69000 same sex cohabitating couples

reasons for increase in cohabitation

• decline in stigma to sec outside marriage - 1989 44% people agreed premarital sex is not wrong at all but 65% 2012

• young more likely to cohabitate

• increased career opportunities for women mean less need for financial security of marriage

• secularisation

relationship between cohabitation and marriage

• chester: for most people cohabitation is part of the process of getting married

• coast: 75% cohabitating couples say they expect to marry eachother

• many see as trial marriage

• some see as permanent alternative

• bejin: cohabitation among some young people represents conscious attempt to create more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal marriage

• shelton and john: women who cohabit do less housework than married

same sex relationships

• increases social acceptance

• male homosexual acts decriminalised 1967 for consenting adults over 21 - since been equalised with heterosexuals

• 2004 civil partnership act gave same sex couples similar legal rights to married couples

• 2014 able to marry

• chosen families

• weeks: increased social acceptance explains trend towards same sex cohabitation and stable relationships. create families based on ‘friendship as kinship’ - chosen families

• weston: same sex cohabitation as quasi marriage and many gay couples deciding to cohabit as stable partners

• allan and crow:due to absence of marriage until recently same sec partners have had to negotiate their commitment and responsibilities more than married couples

• einasdottir: while many welcome opportunity to have partnership legally recognised, others fear it may limit flexibility and negotiability of relationships

one person households

• 2013 3/10 households contained one person nearly 3 times figure 1961

• 40% one person households over 65. pensioner one person households doubled since 1961

reasons for the changes

• increase in divorce creates more one person households especially among men under 65- children likely to live with mother

• decline in numbers marrying and trend towards marrying later mean more people remaining single - singles risen by half since 1971

• older widows- too few partners available in their age group

‘living apart together’

• duncan and phillips: one in ten adults are living apart together - in significant relationship but not married or cohabiting - half all people classifies as single

• trend towards less formalised relationships and families of choice

• found both choice and constraint play part e.g. could not afford to

childbearing

• 47% children born outside marriage but nearly all jointly registered by both parents

• women having children later 1971 and 2012 average age at birth of first child rose by four years to 28.1

• more remaining childless predicted ¼ born in 1973 will be childless at 45

• increase of births outside marriage due to decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation

• women now have more options than motherhood e.g. establish career

lone parent families

• 22% of all families

• one in four children lives in lone parent family

• 90% headed by mothers

• until early 1990s divorced women biggest group of lone mothers , from early 90s single women became biggest group

• child living with lone parent twice as likely to be in poverty

• increase of lone prenatal due to increase in divorce and never married women

• female headed due to belief by nature women suited to expressive role, divorce courts give custody to mothers, men less willing than women to give up work

• many lone parents mothers are single by choice

• renvoize: professional women able to support child without father’s involvement

• cashmore: some wc mothers with less earning power chose to live on welfare benefits without a pruner often because of abuse

murray

• growth of lone parent families resulting from over generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and their children

• creates a perverse incentive and a dependency culture

• solution to abolish welfare benefits to reduce dependency culture that encourages births outside marriage

• critics argue welfare benefits are far from generous and lone potent families more likely to be in poverty

• 60% lone parents unemployed

• most are women who generally earn less than men

• failure of fathers to pay maintenance

stepfamilies

• 10% of families with dependent children in britain

• ferri and smith: stepfamilies very similar to first families in all major respects and involvement of stepparents in childrearing is positive. however stepfamilies are at greater risk of poverty

• allan and crow: stepfamilies may face problems of divided loyalty and contact with non resident parent may cause tension

• reasons for the patterns

• factors causing increase in lone parents also responsible for creation of stepfamilies

• more children in stepfamilies from woman’s previous relationship as more likely to stay with mother

• greater risk of poverty as stepfather may have to support children from previous relationship

black families

• black caribbean and black african have higher proportion of lone parent households

• 2012 ½ families headed by black person were lone parent

• high rate of female headed lone parent black families seen as evidence of disorganisation and can be traced back to slavery (when couples sold separation children stayed with mother)or to high rates of unemployment among black males (less able to provide resulting in marital breakdown)

• mirza: not result of disorganisation but reflects high value blank women place on independence

• reynolds: many ‘lone’ parents are in fact stable supportive but non cohabitating relationships

asian families

• bangladeshi, pakistani and indian households larger than other ethnic groups

• sometimes extended but mostly nuclear

• ballard: extended families provided an important source of support among asian migrants in 50s and 60s

• early period of migration- extended

• later- relatives lived nearby

the extended family today

• charles’ study of swansea found three generations living under one roof ‘all but extinct’ exception was bangladeshi community

• willmott: extended family conginues to exist as dispersed extended family where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls

• chamberlain: study of caribbean families in britain found despite being geographically dispersed they continue to provide support. describes them as ‘multiple nuclear families’ with close and frequent contact through visits

• extended family survives because it performs important functions for its members

• bell: both wc and mc families had emotional bonds with kin and relied on them for support

the beanpole family

• bell’s findings suggest importance of beanpole family

• brannen: particular type of extended family that is long and thin

• extended vertically through three or more generations but not horizontally

• charles found same high level of contact between mothers and adult daughters that bell found in 1960s however there had been decline in brothers and sisters

• increased life expectancy means more surviving grandparents and smaller family size means fewer siblings thus fewer horizontal ties

obligations to relatives

• finch and mason: 90% given or received financial help and ½ cared for sick relative

• more is expected of females than males

• cheal: where care for elderly woman is needed a daughter or daughter in law is preferred. sons rarely chosen as caregivers. daughters rarely chosen to provide money

• mason: daughters responsibility depends on history of relationship, obligations she feels to relative and other responsibilities that give a legitimate excuse not to be involved

• finch and mason: principle of reciprocity or balance is also important - help should be returned