Changing Family Patterns Flashcards
(5 cards)
Give explanations for the increase in divorce?
women’s increased financial independence:
- improvements in in their economic position have made them less financially dependent on their husband and therefore at freer to end unsatisfactory marriage, more likely to now be in paid work- proportion of women working rose from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013, anti- discrimination laws to narrow pay gap, welfare benefits- less dependent
- Oakley- traditional patriarchal marriage structures often left women dissatisfied, now means they have an exit
Changes in the law:
-when the grounds were equalised for men and women in 1923, this was followed by a sharp rise in the number of divorcee petitions from women, the divorce reform act 1969 made it possible to divorce without proving fault (abuse) - now cheaper and faster, reducing legal barriers
Rising execrations of marriage:
- Fletcher- the higher expectations people place on marriage today are major cause of rising divorce rates, higher expectations make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage, linked to the ideology of romantic love- idea that has become dominant over the last couple centuries, belief that marriage should be based solely on love - follows hat if love dies, there is no longer any justification for remaining marred ad every reason to divorce to be able to renew the search for ones true soulmate
What are the reasons for changing patterns of marriage?
Changes in the potion of women: with better educational and career prospects, many women are now less economically dependent on men, gives them freedom not to marry, feminist view that marriage is an oppressive patriarchal institution may also dissuade some women from marrying
Fear of divorce: with the divorce rate at 40%, rising, some at be put off marrying because they see the increased likelihood of marriage ending in divorce
Decreased stigma attached to alternatives to marriage: cohabitation, remaining single, having children outside of marriage all seen as acceptable. In 1989, 70% believed that couples who want children should get married but by 2012 42 thought so
What are the reasons for the patterns of lone parent families?
now make up 22% of all families with children- 1 in 4 live in lone parent families, over 90% headed by lone mothers
-the welfare state/ poverty- Murray- new right, sees the growth resulting from an over- generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and their children , created a ‘preserve incentive’, it rewards irresponsible behaviour, such as having children without being able to provide for them- welfare state creates a ‘dependency culture’ in which people assume that the state will support them and their children- solution is to abolish welfare benefits - would reduce dependency culture that exists outside of marriage
Single by choice- many are female headed because mothers are single by choice, may not wish to cohabit or marry, or they may wish to limit the fathers involvement with the child- cashmore- some WC mothers with less earning power chose to live on welfare benefits without a partner, often because they had experienced abuse. Feminist ideas,and greater opportunities for women may encouraged an increase in the number of never- married lone mothers
Give ethnic differences in family patterns
Black families- Caribbean and African people have have a higher proportion of lone-parent households- 2012 ONS 51% lone parents, traces back to slavery, recently high rates of unemployment for black males- unable to provide for family, resulting in higher rates of desertion
- under slavery, when black couples were sold separately, children stays with the mother- established a pattern of family life that it persists today
However- Mirza- the higher rate of lone parent families among blacks isn’t not the result of disorganisation, but rather reflects the high value black women place on independence
- Reynolds- stats are misleading, in that many apparently ‘lone’ parents are in fact in stable,supportive but non-cohabiting relationships
Asian families- tend to be larger than those of other ethnic groups, can contain 3 generations, most are nuclear rather than expended- partly a result of the younger age profile of British Asians, since a higher proportion are in the childbearing age groups compared with population as a whole, reflect the value placed on the extended family in Asian cultures
-practical considerations, such as the need for assistance, when migrating to Britain, are also important, e.g Ballard found that extended family ties provided an important source of support among Asian migrants in the 1950s-60s
