Family Diversity

Question 1

family diversity points

Answer 1

• marriage
• divorce
• childbearing

Question 2

marriage points

Answer 2

• marriage steep decline
• people marry later
• marriage MC
• same sex marriage
• LATs

Question 3

divorce points

Answer 3

• increase but flattened
• younger= more likely divorce
• changes in legislation
• changing posititon of women
• silver splitters- grey divorce (older divorce due to life expectancy)
• rising expectations (Giddens)
• privatised nuclear
• increase life expectancy

Question 4

childbearing points

Answer 4

• declining birth rate
• Hirsh- cost

Question 5

other family diversity points

Answer 5

• Clipped wing generation/adult kids
• Eversely and Bonnerjea
• singlehood
• beanpole
• Rapoports

Question 6

neo-conventional nuclear family

Answer 6

new ‘normal’ families eg gay families act like nuclear

against family diversity like new right think bad

Question 7

neo-traditional extended

Answer 7

dont have to live with extended famiy, it still provides support eg grandparents help with childcare. extended family making a return

eval for evolutionary theory of family by Parsons

Question 8

murdocks theory on family

Answer 8

family universal, anything other than nuclear= extensions or reductions

polygyny and polyandry critcise Murdocks functions as societies function without being a nuclear family

Question 9

term: polygyny

Answer 9

a man who has more than one wife

Question 10

term: polyandry

Answer 10

a woman with more than one husband

Question 11

term: cohabitation

Answer 11

living with a partner but not being married to or in a civil partnership with them

Question 12

Morgan: criticising cohabitation

Answer 12

refers to cohab as marriage-lite
claims evidence shows cohab couples less happy + less fulfilled , more likely be abusive

Question 13

Murphy: criticising cohabitation

Answer 13

children whose parents live together but not married get worse results at school, higher risk of developing serious illness

Question 14

term: GMR (General Marriage Rate)

Answer 14

number of men and women who get married in any given year per 1,000 men and women 16yr and over who are unmarried

Question 15

trends of marriage in UK

Answer 15

1. people marrying later
2. social class divide in marriage
3. ethic variations
4. same sex marriage
5. GMR in decline
6. remarriages (serial monogamy)

• marrying later - 1972 mean average 24.9 men, 22.9 women. 2012 32.4 men, 30.3 women

Question 16

reasons for decline in marriage

Answer 16

1. social policies put off people (New right)
2. secularisation
3. change in attitude- make sure will be equal (feminism)
4. average cost
5. more focused on career
6. women don’t need to marry financially
7. increasing divorce rates
8. improvements in reproductive tech
9. value marriage more as institution than past (confluent love)

Question 17

2 alternatives to marriage

Answer 17

1. cohabitation
2. LATs

Question 18

term: LATs

Answer 18

people in long term committed intimate relationship but don’t share home by choice

Question 19

why are LAT’s growing?

Answer 19

1. increasing divorce + seperation= less willing to commit
2. children from prev relationships
3. difficulty maintaining job in same area
4. modern tech=closer links maintained

Question 20

Morgan & Murphy criticisms

Answer 20

• cohabitation become more normal part of life course
• cohab delaying marriage as test of compatibility
• cohab regarded as trial run
• practical reasons for rise in cohab

Question 21

reasons for increase in divorce

Answer 21

• changes in law
• growing secularisation
  -changing social attitudes
• privatised nuclear family more isolated
• reduced functions of family
  increasing life expectancy
• contraception
• rising expectations of marriage
• influence of feminism

Question 22

types of marietal breakdown

Answer 22

1. empty shell
2. separation
3. divorce

Question 23

term: modified extended family

Answer 23

a nuclear family which maintains strong kinship ties with extended relatives however they don’t live in the same household but communicate via technology

Question 24

term: communes

Answer 24

people living in groups where share resources and accommodation

Question 25

marriage: Beaujouan & Ni Bhrolchain

Answer 25

thinks cohabitation has become more normal & is delaying marriage seen as test of compatability 'trial run'

Question 26

term: divorce rate

Answer 26

number of divorces per 1000 marriages per year

Question 27

reasons for divorce rate increasing

Answer 27

- changes in law (DRA 1969) - growing secularisation - change in social attitudes - reduced functions of fam - contraception - increasing life expectancy - privatised nuc fam more isolated

Question 28

child- bearing: Whiting

Answer 28

2 child family remains most common and has done for 70 years

Question 29

child-bearing: Hirsch

Answer 29

each child costs nearly £154K by time 18 years

Question 30

term: child bearing

Answer 30

having children

Question 31

term: child rearing

Answer 31

raising children

Question 32

rappoports

Answer 32

5 ways families can be different - cohort diversity (particular gen may have factor affecting family type eg return of extended family, ethnicity diversity , social class diversity, life cycle diversity, structural diversity

Question 33

regional diversity: Everslea & Bonnerjea

Answer 33

Where u live in UK affects family structure- geriatric wards (by the coast old couple), older declining industrial areas, newly declining industrial areas, sun belt, truly rural areas ## Footnote diversity increase due to geography

Question 34

why are gay families increasing

Answer 34

changes in law and attitudes

Question 35

why are singlehood increasing

Answer 35

- less social stigma - growing individualisation - need for flexibility to move/travel for work - decline in marriage - rise in divorce & seperation - LATs - feminism + seculariasation

Question 36

social class: Kieran + Mueller

Answer 36

' those from lower social classes more likely to experience marital breakdowns compared to those in higher classes '

Question 37

term: privatised nuclear family

Answer 37

2 parents + children, isolated from extended relatives more likely to be middle class families

Question 38

term: modified extended family

Answer 38

extended relatives may still play important role but not within same household, maintain regular contact with extended relatives more likely to be working class families

Question 39

class differences?

Answer 39

- WC more liekly experience marietal breakdown - WC more likely modified extended families - MC more likely privatised nuclear - MC more likely pay for priv childcare - MC more likely dual earner

Question 40

ethnicity (black) differences?

Answer 40

- high rates lone parenthood - separation + divorce 2x high than for white ppl - mixed partnership common - few carribean men and women married to each other - high male unemployment + reluctance to support family - low rates of marriage

Question 41

ethnicity (south asian) differences?

Answer 41

- extended fam still patriarchal in structure - old fashioned values- arranged marriages - divorce rates low due to social disapproval

Question 42

ethnicity: Berihoud + Berishan

Answer 42

- Pakistani families largest families due to lowest % of 1 person fams - Bangladeshi highest fertility rate in each age category so biggest fam size

Question 43

evaluation of cultural differences

Answer 43

- Barrow: mix of fam types exist - Victor: older ppl in south asian communities in England uncertain if can rely on kids - Chamberlain + Gouldbourne: african carribean female lone parent supported by wide kinship newtwork