Families- changing family patterns

Question 1

What is a definition for the divorce rate?

Answer 1

-the number of divorces per 1000 married couples per year

Question 2

2 stats on divorce

Answer 2

-around 40% of marriages end in divorce

-7/10 petitions came from women

Question 3

Patterns of divorce rate over time

Answer 3

-rose rapidly between 1961 and 1972
-peaked in 1993 - 165,000 divorces
-recently, rate has been falling due to less people becoming married

Question 4

How has changes in the law lead to the increase in divorce rates? - key dates
-evaluation?

Answer 4

-equalising the grounds for divorce between men and women - 1923 - prior to this, men could only divorce women for being unfaithful

-divorce was made cheaper - 1949 - made more affordable as state offered legal aid

-widening the grounds for divorce - 1969 - Divorce Law Reform Act where sole ground for divorce was ‘irretrievable breakdown’ rather there being a ‘guilty party’

-eval: doesn’t explain why people take advantage of law changes

Question 5

Changes in the divorce law - post 1971

Answer 5

-1984- minimum period of marriage went from 3 years to 1

-1996- Family Law Act meant after a ‘period of reflection’, a married couple could get divorced, regardless of how long they had been married for.

-2007- equality was made stronger in divorce settlements - 50/50 split of all assets

Question 6

How has changing social values lead to the increase in divorce rates? - sociologists?
-evaluation?

Answer 6

-less social stigma attached to divorce
-considered in the past that couples should not divorce for the sake of the children
-rather than being seen as shameful, today it is more likely to be regarded simply as a misfortune

-sociologists are Mitchell and Goody

-eval: family patterns continue to be traditional and most children are brought up in married couples so have more influence on them wanting the same thing

Question 7

How has secularisation lead to the increase in divorce rates? -stat?
-evaluation?

Answer 7

-decline in the influence of Christianity on society

-traditional opposition to divorce from the church carries less weight - people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings

-less than 40% of marriages now involve a religious ceremony

-eval: Church Of England now allow divorcees to remarry in church - suggests that there is still a demand for religious ceremonies

Question 8

How has changing expectations of marriage lead to the increase in divorce rates? - sociologist?
-evaluation?

Answer 8

-people now have higher expectations of what a marriage should be like
-makes couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
-people will divorce until they find the right partner

-previously, marriage was more about economic reasons rather than love or intimacy

-sociologist is Fletcher

-eval: feminists say this explanation fails to explain why it is mainly women rather than men that seek divorce

Question 9

How has changes in the position of women in paid work lead to the increase in divorce rates?
-sociologist?
-evaluation?

Answer 9

-women have gained a dissatisfaction of domestic life within the patriarchal family meaning they are more likely to start divorce proceedings

-Hochschild argues that for many women, the home compares unfavourably with work
-at work, they feel valued and and at home they feel frustrated.

-eval: even if they feel valued at work, they have triple shift to deal with

Question 10

How has changes in the position of women economically lead to the increase in divorce rates?
-evaluation?

Answer 10

-women are now less financially dependent on men meaning they are freer to end a marriage

-girls greater success in education allows them to receive better jobs
-availability of welfare benefits means women no longer have to be dependent on her husband to support her.

-eval: some women do not want to work and are fine being dependent on their husband

Question 11

Impact of divorce on children

Answer 11

-lower self esteem, depression
-more romantic difficulties when they are older

Question 12

Impact of divorce on society

-feminist and new right view

Answer 12

-New Right:
-undermining the nuclear family
-leading to welfare dependency
-leads to boys not having a role model

Feminist:
-freed women from patriarchal family
-divorce laws have helped women to gain freedom, independence and social equality

Question 13

What is a definition for cohabitation?

Answer 13

-two unmarried people who live together and are involved in a sexually intimate relationship

Question 14

Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - first marriages

Answer 14

-fewer people getting married for the first time
-due to the stigma vanishing and divorce increasing

Question 15

Current pattern of marriage

Answer 15

-fewer people marrying in the UK - marriage rates at its lowest since 1920
-1/3 of all marriages had partners who had married before

Question 16

Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - changing attitudes/declining stigma- stats?

Answer 16

-less pressure on people to get married
-individuals can now choose what type of relationship they want
-legal status less important to people

-pregnancy no longer leads to marriage
-in 1989, 70% believed that couples who wanted children should get married
-in 2012, this went down to 42%

Question 17

Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - fear of divorce

Answer 17

-people may not get married as they see more couples getting divorced so are afraid their marriage might end in divorce

-don’t want money split 50/50

-can also link increase in cohabitation to increase in divorce (secularisation, change in position of women)

Question 18

Why might cohabiting couples have a more equal relationship to a married couple?

Answer 18

-easier to split up so men need to be on best behaviour
-share domestic tasks equally

Question 19

Diversity of partnerships - same sex relationships

-stats and key dates

Answer 19

-estimated 5-7% of pop are in a same sex relationship

-in 2004, the civil partnership act gave same sex couples similar legal rights to married couples in respect of pensions and inheritance of private property

-2014- same sex couples could marry

Question 20

Diversity of partnerships - chosen families
-sociologist?

Answer 20

-an LGBTQ person has family who don’t accept them so go to friends for support - this is their chosen family

-sociologist Weeks says that increased social acceptance may explain the trend towards same sex cohabitation and stable relationships that resemble those found in heterosexual relationships

Question 21

Diversity of partnerships - one person households- stats?

Answer 21

-fewer people are living in couples today

-in 2019, 3 in 10 households contained one person
-this is due to increase in divorce and decrease in marriage generally

Question 22

Diversity of partnerships - living apart together- stats?
-sociologists?
-why do they occur?

Answer 22

-this is when couples have an intimate relationship but live at different addresses
-in early 2000’s, LAT’s accounted for 10% of adults
-sociologists are Duncan and Phillips

-could be caused by constraints (couples not being afford to live together) or choice (too early to cohabit or bad previous relationship)

Question 23

Stats on childbearing

Answer 23

-nearly half of all children are born out of a marriage

-avr age of women having children has risen by 4 years from 1971 to 2019

Question 24

Factors that affect fertility rate or family size?

Answer 24

-contraception
-compulsory education
-changing position of women
-decline of infant mortality rate
-geographically mobile workforce
-changing values/expectations

Question 25

Diversity of partnerships - lone parent families

-why are these usually ran by women?
-stats
-eval

Answer 25

-this family type is just one single parent and children

-caused by:
-increase in divorce/separation
-increase in never married mothers
-decline in stigma of births outside of marriage/secularisation

-lone parents mostly women - suiting to the ‘nurturing role’ and courts usually give custody to women following a divorce.
-men less likely to give up work

eval: lack of affordable childcare means lone parents cannot work to support them

-make up 24% of all families with children
-90% are headed by mothers

Question 26

New Right perspective of lone parent families
-sociologist?
-eval

Answer 26

-sociologist Murray argues that an over generous welfare state who offers benefits for lone parents explains the rise in them

-says it creates a ‘perverse incentive’ where the gov rewards irresponsible behaviour and a ‘dependency culture’

-says abolishing benefits would decrease births outside of marriage

-eval:
-benefits are inadequate so are in poverty instead

Question 27

Stepfamilies - explanation
-stats?

-why are they at greater risk of poverty?- sociologist?

Answer 27

-10% of all families are stepfamilies

-85% of stepfamilies have at least one child from women’s previous relationship - children are more likely to remain with their mother after split

-Ferri and Smith say stepfamilies are at greater risk of poverty - due to stepfather providing for another family

Question 28

Ethnic differences in family patterns - British Asian families

Answer 28

-more likely to form extended families

-this is due to: obligations to assist extended kin were important
-the young having a strong sense of duty to elders
-a high value being placed on family honour

Question 29

Ethnic differences in family patterns - British Black families - sociologists?
-eval?

Answer 29

-high rate of lone parenthood

-this is due to: ‘mother households’ headed by females being very common - often no men are present
-sociologist is Berthoud

eval:
-not all lone parents are unstable - some have supporting, non-cohabiting partners who play the parental role
-shows the independence of Black women

Question 30

Trend towards individualism in culturally different British families
-sociologist?

Answer 30

-Berthoud says both British Asian and Black families are moving away from traditional values and towards ones where individuals can have more choice in their personal relationships rather than binding obligations being more important.

Question 31

What is the difference between a classic and a modified extended family?
-sociologist?

Answer 31

-classic extended family: children, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all live in the same household

-modified extended family: relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through social media or visits - Wilmott

Question 32

What is the beanpole family?

Answer 32

-extends vertically - involves grandparents, parents and children
-does not extend horizontally to involve aunties and uncles

caused by: increased life expectancy (grandparents are living longer)
-smaller family sizes (fewer children means fewer siblings so less aunts, uncles)