Changing family patterns

Question 1

What are 3 changes in law for divorce?

Answer 1

1. Equalising the grounds
2. Widening the grounds
3. Making divorce cheaper

Question 2

What are 3 solutions instead of divorce?

Answer 2

1. Desertion
2. Legal separation
3. ‘Empty shell’ marriage

Question 3

What are 7 reasons for the increase in divorce?

Answer 3

1. Changes in law
2. Declining stigma and changing attitudes
3. Secularisation
4. Rising expectations of marriage
5. Women’s increased financial independence
6. Feminist explanations
7. Modernity and individualisation

Question 4

What did Mitchell and Goody find?

Answer 4

Rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce

Question 5

What is a downside to divorce becoming so accessible?

Answer 5

• Couples resort to divorce to solve marital problems by ‘normalising’ it

Question 6

How has secularisation influenced the increase in divorce?

Answer 6

Religious institutions are losing their influence and society is becoming more secular and at the same time churches have also begun to soften their view on divorce

Question 7

What does Fletcher argue?

Answer 7

Higher expectations people place on marriage today make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage

Question 8

What did Allan and Crow find?

Answer 8

Individuals seek personal fulfillment in marriage and if there is ‘no love’ there’s no justification to remain married

Question 9

Who said although divorce is increasing there is still a continuing popularity of marriage?

Answer 9

Fletcher

Question 10

How much more women are going to work now compared to 1971?

Answer 10

14%

Question 11

What do feminists argue that women today bear?

Answer 11

A dual burden of paid work and domestic work

Question 12

How does Feminists critic functionalists?

Answer 12

They take a rosy view, the oppression of women is the main cause of marital conflict

Question 13

What did Hochschild say?

Answer 13

For many women, the home compares unfavorably with work; they feel more valued at work

Question 14

What did Rushton find?

Answer 14

Mothers who have a dual burden are more likely to divorce than non-working mothers in marriages with a traditional division of labour

Question 15

Regarding modernity and inidvidualisation what did Beck and Giddens find?

Answer 15

Traditional norms such as the duty to remain with the same partner lose their hold over individuals

Question 16

Why are relationships becoming more fragile?

Answer 16

Individuals become unwilling to remain with a partner if the relationship fails to deliver personal fulfillment

Question 17

What are 5 reasons for changing patterns of marriage?

Answer 17

1. Changing attitudes to marriage, widespread belief that the quality of a couple’s relationship is more important than its legal status
2. Secularisation
3. Declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage (cohabitation)
4. Changes in the position of women
5. Fear of divorce

Question 18

What are 4 reasons for the increase in cohabitation?

Answer 18

1. Increased cohabitation are a result of the decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
2. The young more likely to accept cohabitation
3. Increased career opportunities may mean less need for women to marry for financial security
4. Secularisation

Question 19

What does Stonewall estimate?

Answer 19

5-7% of the adult population today have same-sex relationships

Question 20

What is one reason for the fall in number of divorces since the 1990s?

Answer 20

Fewer people are choosing to marry and cohabit instead

Question 21

What does Weeks argue is a reason for increased same-sex cohabitation?

Answer 21

Increased social acceptance

Question 22

How many people today are living alone? And what percentage are over 65?

Answer 22

• 3 in every 10 households

- 40% are over 65

Question 23

What proportion of adults are single and what is one reason for this?

Answer 23

• The proportion of adults who are single has risen by half since 1971
• ‘Creative singlehood’, the deliberate choice to live alone

Question 24

What did Duncan and Philips find? What trend does their research follow?

Answer 24

One in ten adults are ‘living apart together’ which reflects a trend towards less formalised relationships

Question 25

What changes in childbearing have there been?

Answer 25

- 47% of children are born outside of marriage - Women are having children later - Women are having fewer children - More women remaining childless

Question 26

What are some reasons for the change in childbearing patterns?

Answer 26

- Increase in births outside marriage means less stigma | - The later age at which women are having children means smaller family sizes

Question 27

What percentage of lone-parent families are there?

Answer 27

22%

Question 28

What percentage of lone-parents families are headed by lone mothers and are children more likely to be in poverty when living with a lone parent?

Answer 28

- 90% are headed by lone mothers | - A child living with a lone-parent is twice as likely to live in poverty than a child living with two parents

Question 29

What are 3 reasons as to why lone-parent families might be female-headed?

Answer 29

1. The widespread belief that women are suited to an expressive or nurturing role 2. Divorce usually gives custody of children to mothers 3. Men may be less willing to give up work to care for children

Question 30

What does Murray see as a reason for the growth of lone parent families?

Answer 30

An over-generous welfare state

Question 31

What does Allan and Crow say about step families?

Answer 31

- May face particular problems of divided loyalties and issues such as contact with the non-resident parent can cause tensions

Question 32

How do critics of New Right argue that welfare benefits are far from generous?

Answer 32

- Lack of affordable childcare - Inadequate welfare benefits - Women generally earn less than men

Question 33

What family patterns were seen in Black families? What were 2 reasons for the high rate of female-headed, lone-parent families?

Answer 33

- High proportion of lone-parent households 1. One reason is family disorganisation that can be traced back to slavery 2. High rates of unemployment among black males

Question 34

How does Mirza argue that high rates of black lone-parent families is not due to family disorganisation and unemployment in males?

Answer 34

Reflects the high value that black women place on independence

Question 35

What family patterns were seen in Asian families?

Answer 35

- Asian households tend to be larger | - Value placed on the extended family

Question 36

What did Charles' find?

Answer 36

The classic 3 generation extended family all living together under one roof is 'extinct'

Question 37

What did Chamberlain find?

Answer 37

A study of Caribbean families in Britain found that despite being geographically dispersed, extended families remain in contact

Question 38

How does Brannen describe the beanpole family?

Answer 38

'Long and thin' - It is extended vertically through 3 or more generations but is not extended horizontally (doesn't involve uncles, aunts and cousins)

Question 39

What did Finch and Mason find?

Answer 39

- Despite the rise of the beanpole family many people still feel a sense of obligated to help their wider extended kin