Changing family patterns

Question 1

What are the major changes in the family in the past 50 years?

Answer 1

• Cohabitation, same sex and long parent families have increased.
• Divorce rates have increased
• Marriage rates have decreased
• Women are having less children than in the 20th century.

Question 2

Explanation for increased divorce rates: Changes in the Law

Answer 2

Divorce was difficult to obtain in 19th centre Britain, especially for women. Gradual changes in the law have made divorce easier, such as making it cheaper and equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes. The Divorce Reform Act in particular widened the grounds for divorce, making divorce easier to obtain, which in turn led to the doubling of divorce rates in 1971.

Question 3

Explanation for increased divorce rates: Declining Stigma and Changing Attitudes

Answer 3

There was previously a stigma around divorce, which meant that divorce was socially disapproved of with Churches condemning it. However, Mitchell and Goody found that there has been a rapid decline in divorce stigma since the 1960’s, so more couples resort to divorce as a means of solving marital problems, as it has become more normalised.

Question 4

Explanations for increased divorce rates: Secularisation

Answer 4

Wilson identified how religions influence in society has decreased. People who do not hold religious beliefs are less likely to be concerned about the traditional opposition of the churches to divorce. This relates to how people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions about personal matters.

Question 5

Explanations for increased divorce rates: Rising Expectations

Answer 5

Previously, people had lower expectations of marriage, seeing it simply as start of the unit of production (family) rather than love, meaning they were more likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage. However, people now have higher expectations of marriage, with the idea of confluent love emerging. Giddens identified how this means that individuals are now looking to create meaningful relationships based on romantic love and respect. When this is not a reality, people are less tolerable and will head straight for a divorce.

EVAL: Despite this, the high rate of re-marriage after divorce shows that marriage has not been rejected as an institution.

Question 6

Explanations for increased divorce: Modernity and individualisation

Answer 6

Beck and Giddens argue that traditional norms like marriage have less influence over people in modern society. This is because of the individualisation thesis, which means that people today aspire for personal fulfilment/self-interest meaning that people are unwilling to remain in an unhappy marriage if they do not feel fulfilled. Individualisation is encouraged in other ways such as focusing on a career, education or personal development.

Question 7

Explanation for increased divorce: Women’s increased financial independence

Answer 7

An increase in women seeking divorce, comes from the fact that they are less economically dependent on their husbands, therefore making it easier for them to end an unhappy marriage and support themselves. This new financial independence comes from the fact that:
- women are more involved in paid work
- equal pay and anti-discrimination laws
- girls educational success
- welfare benefits.
This all means that women are able to support themselves in the event of divorce and shows how marriage is not embedded in the economic system.

Question 8

Explanation for increased divorce: dual-burden

Answer 8

In the view of feminists, the dual burden, where women have to do paid and domestic work, has created a new source of conflict between husbands and wives. and this is leading to a higher divorce rate than in the past.
Women are also more aware of patriarchal oppression in marriages and are more confident about rejecting it.

Question 9

What do the New Right think the effect of divorce is?

Answer 9

The high divorce rates are undesirable as they undermine traditional nuclear marriage, which is vital to social stability. Murray says it creates a growing underclass of welfare-dependent female lone parents who are a burden on the state and leave boys without the adult male role model needed.

Question 10

What is the effect of high divorce rate from a feminist perspective?

Answer 10

Positive as it shows that women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family.

Question 11

What is the effect of a high divorce rate from a postmodernist perspective?

Answer 11

Individuals have more freedom to choose to end a relationship when it doesn’t fulfil them, causes high family diversity.

Question 12

What is the meaning of high divorce rates to interactionists and personal life perspective?

Answer 12

• Interactionist, Morgan says we cannot generalise about divorce because it means something different to every individual
• Personal life accepts the problems divorce has caused such as financial difficulties and lack of child contact, but the family can still adapt without disintegrating.

Question 13

What are the patterns in marriage?

Answer 13

• Less people are getting married
• More re-marriages, in 2012 1/3 of all marriages were remarriages, leading to ‘serial monogamy’
• People are getting married later, average age of first marriage rose by 7 years between 1971 and 2012.
• Couples are less likely to marry in church, from 60% in 1981 to 30% in 2012.

Question 14

Reasons for a change in patterns of marriage

Answer 14

• Secularisation
• Changing attitudes to marriage, other forms such as cohabitation are acceptable.
• Change in women’s position (can youse Sharpe’s study)
• Fear of divorce, rising divorce rates put people off marrying.

Question 15

Cohabitation Patterns

Answer 15

• Increased from around 1.5 million in 1996 to around 3.6 million in 2021.
• Cohabiting couples with children are a fast growing family time.
• Generally involves unmarried couples living together.

Question 16

4 Reasons as to why cohabitation has increased

Answer 16

• Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage. In 1989, 44% of people agreed that pre-marital sex isn’t wrong, in 2012 65% agreed.
• Increased career opportunities for women means there is less need for the financial security of marriage as they are financially stable, thus they become freer to opt for cohabitation.
• Secularisation, young people with no religion are more likely to cohabit.
• Younger people are more likely to accept cohabitation, Beaujouan Ni Bhrochain said ‘cohabitation is the new normal’.

Question 17

What are the two different ways cohabitation may be seen by couples?

Answer 17

• Cohabitation is a stepping-stone to marriage
  Chester found that most people see cohabiting as the process of getting married, Coast in 2006 found that 75% of cohabiters intend to marry. This means cohabiting can be seen as a trial-marriage, to see if marriage will go well.
• Cohabitation is a permanent alternative to marriage.

Question 18

Rights given to same-sex couples

Answer 18

Social policy treats all couples more equally:
- Homosexual age of consent has been equalised with heterosexuals.
- 2004 Civil Partnership Act gave same-sex couples similar legal rights to married couples in respects of pensions, inheritance, property etc
- 2014, same sex couples have been able to marry.

Question 19

What are the patterns with one-person households?

Answer 19

• In 2019, 8.2 million households in the UK were inhabited by just one person.
• Number of people living alone has increased by a 1/5 over the last 20 years, 6.8 million in 1999 to 8.2 million in 2019.
• Majority is men living alone aged 45-64 years.
• Estimated that by 2033, over 30% of the adult population will be unpartnered and never married.

Question 20

What are the patterns in childbearing?

Answer 20

• 47% of children are now born out of wedlock, over twice the number in 1986.
• Women are having children later
• More women are childless

Question 21

What are the reasons for the changing patterns in childbearing?

Answer 21

There are increased births outside of wedlock due to less stigma about cohabitation, a sense of social acceptance.
Women want to establish themselves in a career, individualisation thesis, Sharpe’s study.
Cos of living crisis, too expensive to have children.

Question 22

Why are women more likely to head lone-parent families? (matriarchal)

Answer 22

• Widespread belief that women are by nature suited to an ‘expressive’ or nurturing role
• Divorce courts usually give custody of children to mothers
• Men may be less willing than women to give up work for childcare

Question 23

Why is Murray critical of lone-parent families?

Answer 23

The growth of lone-parent families has resulted from over generous welfare benefits from the state, which provides benefits for single parents and children. This creates a perverse incentive where the state rewards irresponsible behaviour like having children without being able to support them. As a result this formulates a dependency culture where people rely on the government to provide for them as opposed to earning their own money.

Question 24

What are the criticisms of Murray?

Answer 24

Lone-parent families are more likely to be in poverty:
- Lack of affordable childcare prevents lone parent families from working.
- Welfare benefits are inadequate.
- Fathers fail to pay maintenance.
- Most lone-parents are women, who earn less than men.

Question 25

What do Ferri and Smith say about stepfamilies?

Answer 25

Step-families are similar to first families, stepparents involvement in childcare is positive.
However they are more likely to be at risk of poverty because there’s more children to care for and the stepparent may be caring for other children too.

Question 26

Why do Black Caribbean and African have a higher amount of lone-parent families?

Answer 26

• High rate of matriarchal lone-parent families is proof of family disorganisation that comes from high rates of unemployment among black males. Men being less able to provide for their family results in higher rates of desertion or marital breakdown.
• Family disorganisation can be traced back to slavery, when couples were sold separately, children stayed with the mother.
• Mirza says it is not necessarily the result of disorganisation, but rather reflects the high value black mothers put on independence.

Question 27

Why do Asian families tend to be larger and extended?

Answer 27

• Households typically contain 3 generations, Asian nuclear families are having more children.
• This reflects family values in Asian culture. Ballard says extended families provided an importance source of support amongst Asian migrants in the 1950s.

Question 28

Extended family today: Charles- Study of Swansea

Answer 28

The classic 3 generation family living together is essentially extinct, with the only exceptions in the Bangladeshi community.

Question 29

Extended family today: Chamberlain- Study of Caribbean families in Britain

Answer 29

Despite being geographically dispersed, they would always provide support to one another. They are ‘multiple nuclear families’ with close and frequent contact between members, who often make big contributions to childrearing.

Question 30

Extended family today:
Wilmott

Answer 30

Continues to exist as a ‘dispersed extended family’, relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact because technology has made it easier to make phonecalls.

Question 31

What is the beanpole family according to Branner?

Answer 31

• Long and thin
• Extends vertically through 3 generations of grandparents, parents and children.
• Not extended horizontally, doesn’t involve aunts, uncles, cousins etc.

Question 32

What demographic changes have encouraged the ‘beanpole’ family?

Answer 32

• Increased life expectancy means more surviving grandparents and great-grandparents.
• Smaller family sizes mean people have fewer siblings and thus fewer horizontal ties.

Question 33

Obligations to relatives- WOMEN, Cheal

Answer 33

Cheal found that obligations to help wider kin were more expected of women than men. Daughters/daughter in laws were often the first pick when caring for the old or domestic help. This may reflect the underlying view that women are best suited to the expressive role in society.