Changing In Family Patterns Flashcards
(26 cards)
Reasons on why divorced has increased - changes in law
Allowing women to give the same excuses as men for divorce - equalising the grounds
Allowing more reasons for people to use in order to secure a divorce - widening the grounds
Making divorce cheaper
Equalising the grounds and widening the grounds made divorce rates increase and double
The introduction of legal aids (money from the government to help pay lawyer fees) allowed people to divorce easier and cheaper
Divorce isn’t always the option
- desertion: partners are separated but not legally
- legal separation: finances are separated but legally married
- empty shell: couples living together and are together in name only
Reasons on why divorced has increased - decline in stigma and changing attitudes
It has become socially acceptable to divorce because of how normalised it has become so attitudes towards divorce is more neutral and accepting
If attitudes are changing towards divorce, people will approach divorce as something that’s normal
It isn’t shameful to divorce anymore, due to other laws being put in place, women are able to be more independent and not financially depend on their husbands and stay in an unhappy marriage
Reasons on why divorced has increased - secularisation
The decline of influence in religion has led to an increase in divorce
People are not as religious anymore so we aren’t influenced by religious teachings to stay in an unhappy marriage and aid to our personal needs
Reasons on why divorced has increased - rising expectations in marriage
People are putting themselves first and then marriage
People prefer happy marriages and put their happiness first and divorce if they need to
Justified by love dying, if it dies then there’s no point in trying to keep the marriage alive
Reasons on why divorced has increased - women’s increased financial independence
Women have gained more equality in the workplace and are able to work, gaining financial independence
Laws such as equal pay act and sex discrimination act and women being allowed to work in general has led to women getting out of marriages because they can afford the divorce by working but also because they dont have to financially depend on their husbands
There’s also welfare benefits so women do not need to marry for financial stability and just rely on the government
However, NR will reject this as depending on the government causes an increase in dependency culture, having more unmarried women unemployed while everyone has to pay higher taxes
Reasons on why divorced has increased - feminist explanations
Women have gained more equality in the workplace. At home the progress is a lot slower
Hoschild - women have noticed that at work they’ve made more progress, men are resistant to changes at home and because of this, women are more likely to divorce
Rushton - women with a dual burden are more likely to divorce
AO3
Cooke and Gash - no evidence that women are more likely to divorce because of these reasons
Bernard - women dont like patriarchal marriages and more open to feminist ideals so they divorce their husbands
Reasons on why divorced has increased - modernity and individualisation
People are less likely to follow traditions. Beck and Giddens found that people become a lot more free to make their own decision
Giddens says that people look for a ‘pure relationship’ and those that fulfill their needs. If it isn’t available, they divorce. Divorce rates normalise divorce so people are more likely to divorce for a ‘pure relationship’
Encourages individualism to allow people in making their own decisions for themselves and not others
New Right and divorce
Against divorce because it undermines the traditional nuclear family
Divorce creates lone-parent families who are dependent on the government for benefits
It leaves boys without a male role model
Feminists and divorce
Desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from patriarchal nuclear families
Postmodernists and individualists - divorce
Individuals have the freedom to end relationships if needs aren’t met anymore. Creates family diversity
Functionalists and divorce
Not a threat to marriage as an institution but because of people’s higher expectations
Remarriage shows people’s commitment to the concept of marriage
Interactionists and divorce
Cannot generalise meanings of divorce because everyone’s interpretation of divorce is different
2 different POVs - father leaving was the best thing ever and the others couldn’t recover: Mitchel and Goody
Personal life perspective and divorce
Causes financial problems and the lack of contact between children and non resident parent
Divorce is normalised so people can just adapt to it. We shouldn’t see divorce as a massive turning point in life
First marriage
Both partners getting married for the first time
Cohabitation
An unmarried couple that lives together
Reasons for the increase in cohabitation
Stigma on sex before marriage has decreased
Young people accept cohabiting
Secularisation
Career opportunities for women, no need to depend on a man
Same sex couples and cohabiting
Rise of cohabitation is due to homosexual relationships
Stonewall estimates that 5-7% of adult relationships are gay
Opinion polls show the growing acceptance of homosexual relationships
- homo couples have the same rights like pension, inheritance and property like hetero couples
- homo couples can get married legally, 2014
Weeks and chosen couples
Gays create families based on the idea of ‘friendships as kinships’ where friendships become kinships offering the same support and stability as hetero couples
Weston and same-sex relationships
They’ve changed since the 1970s because homosexual couples are now deciding to cohabit as stable partners
Einasdottir and same sex relationships
Not wanting it to be legalised because they want to. Be different and limit their flexibility and negotiability
One-person households
3/10 households only contain one person who lives alone, triple of what it was back in 1961 UK
By 2033 it is estimated that 30% of the adult population will be single
‘Living apart together’
Duncan and Phillips found that 1/10 of adults are together but live apart
It’s no longer seen as abnormal and because of previous breakups some people do not want to cohabit easily
Ethnic differences in family patterns
All ethnicities are married or in a civil partnership - this may be due to religion or culture
White people are most likely to cohabit
Black people are most likely to be in lone parent families
Black families
They have a higher proportion of lone-parent households
In 2012 just over half of families with dependent children headed by a black person were lone-parent families
Mirza - high rate of lone parent families amongst black people reflect the high value that women place on independence
