FAMILIES & HOUSEHOLDS - PARTNERSHIP & CHILDBEARING

Family type examples

nuclear family

empty nest family

single parent family

extended family

same sex parent

grand parenting

symmetrical family

cohabitation

boomerang family

beanpole

matrifocal/patrifocal

Are fewer or more people getting married?

fewer

Marriage rates are at their lowest since what year?

1920

Why is this?

After WW1

• women met other men

• women begun working - so less financially dependent

Marriage rates have halved, since what year?

1970

What are some reasons for less people getting married?

• financial reasons (weddings are expensive)

• most marriages less to divorce (can be hard and messy)

• sanctity of marriage has gone

• secularisation (less influence of religion)

• women could be more career driven

Are there more or less remarriage then there has been in previous years?

More

Define serial monogamy

Once you have separated from a partner they move immediately onto the next

They don’t tend to leave a gap in between partners

Are people waiting to get married or not?

People are now getting married later

What is the average age for men and women?

Men - 32

Women - 30

What are people waiting until later in life to get married?

• focus on career/status

• financially stable later in life

• want to be sure

• want children before marriage (women - biological clock)

In 1981, what percentage of weddings were conducted in a church?

60%

In 2012, what percentage of weddings were conducted in a church?

30%

What are some changing attitudes to marriage?

• The quality of the relationship is more important than its legal status

• secularisation

• decline in stigma around alternatives (cohabitation, being single, kids outside of marriage)

• changes in position of women

• fear of divorce

What is cohabitation?

Cohabitation involves unmarried couples in a sexual relationship living together

Although marriages are declining, couples cohabitating are what?

Increasing

Cohabitation is more favorable among which age group?

Young people

Why?

Cheaper, more fun, easier to separate, want to be able to have own space, women are becoming more educated

Many people see cohabitation as what?

A 'trial marriage'

What does this mean?

Couples will get married if they feel the cohabitation has gone well

Cohabiting couples will then decide to get married, why?

• if they have children

• or if one partner is awaiting divorce from a previous partner

Andre Bejin says what about cohabitation?

Cohabitation between young people is a conscious attempt to create a more equal relationship free from patriarchal control

What is the name of the lesbian, gay and bisexual rights charity?

Stonewall

What percentage of the adult population do they estimate are in a same sex marriage?

5-7%

Why is this figure so low?

• people may have not been confident to come out

• the older generation may be less supportive

• people that are married with children may struggle to come out

• religious groups may be less supportive

What was the act that was created in 1967?

Male homosexual acts were decriminalized in 1967, for consenting adults over 21

What was the act that was created in 2002, for cohabiting couples?

Cohabiting couples have the same rights to adopt as married couples

What was the act that was created in 2004?

The civil partnership act - gave same sex couples the same legal rights as married couples in respect of

• pensions

• inheritance

• household tenancies

• home ownership

What act was created in 2014?

Same sex couples can now marry

What has changed in society that has meant that people are now more accepting of homosexual relationships?

• raising awareness

• becoming more common

• laws have changed - became legal in the UK

• more education

• social media

• culture - links to Durkheim as he believed that society should evolve

There has been a big rise in one person households, how many times hugger than 1961?

3x

What is the reasons for the increase in one person households?

• asexuality

• a fight against capitalism (landlords - bourgeoise)

• people moving away from families

• moving to find work (geographical mobility)

• feminists may argue that women are career focused

• women free from patriarchal control

45% if all one person households, are over what age?

65

Why is this?

Life expectancy has increased, so people are still working

Are men or women in the under 65 age group, more likely to line alone?

Men

Why?

As women leave the men, and are mor likely to find a new partner than men

Reasons for these changes?

• increase in separation and divorce

• children often stay with the mother after a divorce

• the father is more likely to leave the family home

• decline in the number of marriages

• some people opt for creative singlehood

What is "creative single hood" ?

The deliberate choice to live alone

What is living apart together?

When a couple is in a relationship, but they have chosen not to live together

They are not married or cohabitating

How many adults are living apart together? What in 10?

1 in 10 -British Social Attitudes Survey (2013)

Why do people choose this?

• long distance relationships

• different lifestyles

• personal space

• work (location)

• financial reasons - mortgage

Lone parent families make up what percent of all families with children?

22%

Are more headed by the mother of the father?

Mother - 90% are headed by the mother

Why?

• women perform the expressive role

• caregiver to the children

• higher divorce rates - 2/3 instigated by the women - who then take the children

Until the early 1990s, divorced women were the biggest group of lone mothers, what group is it now?

Single

Why?

• women no longer are financially dependent on men

• women are more career focused

What are 2 reasons for the number of lone parents rising?

• increase in divorce and separation rates

• increase of ‘never married women’ having children

Lone parent families are headed by women (matrifocal), due to what? (3)

• the belief that women are suited to an expressive role

• divorce courts tend to give the custody of the children to the mothers

• men are less likely than women to give up work for childcare

Many lone parent families are matrifocal, why?

The mothers are single by choice

They may is to limit the father involvement with the child

Why do some women limit fathers involvement?

• the fathers may have been a bad person

• the mother may have had a bad experience

• don’t believe they would have a good influence

• the father may fail to provide

• women wanting control

Ellis Cashmere found out what about some working class mothers?

Some working class mothers with less earning power choose to live on benefits without a partner due to previously experiencing abuse

Who is the New Right person?

Charles Murray

What does he see the increase in lone parent families, as a relation to the welfare state?

A result of an over generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and children causes an increase in lone parent families

What does Charles Murray state that this has created?

Preserve incentive

What does this mean?

Encourages people to have children without being able to provide for them

Murray believes that the welfare state creates a "dependency….?"

Dependency culture - people belief that the state will support them and their children

Are more children in stepfamilies from the mother of the father?

More children are brought from the women then the man

What % of families are children brought from both relationships?

4%

Elsa Ferri and Kate Smith found stepfamilies are at a greater risk of what?

Poverty

Why?

• typically more children to provide for

• could be reliant on one income

Allan & Crow, found what are loyalties in stepfamilies?

They found stepfamilies face problems with divided loyalities

And example of this?

• the children who one partner brought into the step family may be more loyal to them

• kids from previous marriage and current marriage

In stepfamilies, more children are from the mother or the father? Why?

Mother - the children are more likely to stay with the mother

What families tend to be bigger than the "normal" family?

Asian families (Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian households)

• tend to be larger than other ethnic groups

Why are they larger, and how many generations are normally living together?

3 generations

• this is traditional, all work together, what is normal in the culture, takes the burden of the mother

Who are the symmetrical family theorists?

Wilmott and Young

Peter Wilmott has argued that the extended family has not disappeared but what?

Extended family has not disappeared in modern society but that we now have 'dispersed extended family'

What does 'dispersed extended family'?

Relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through phone calls and visits

How does Mary Chamberlain describe these?

Multiple nuclear families with close frequent contact

What is a beanpole family?

3 generations - vertical family

What does Julia Brennan describe the beanpole family as? ( in terms of structure)

Long and thin

Why do beanpole families exist more now than they used to?

Increased life expectancy - more people living longer

As well as smaller family sizes