Changes In Family Patterns Flashcards
What changes in the family have there been since the 70s
-Increase in divorce rates
-Decrease in marriage rates ( more getting married later)
-Rise in lone parent families
-Smaller family sizes
-Rise in re constitution
-Rise in one person households
-Rise in Same Sex couples
-Rise in cohabitation
What does the SPERM acronym stand for and what is it used to explain
-Social norms
-Political
-Religious changes
-Economic changes
-Medical changes
Used to explain the changes in family patterns
According to the National Office of Statistics, what was the percentage of cohabiting couples in 2014 out of all family types
Cohabiting couples accounted for 16% of all family types in the UK
How has the average age of 1st time marriage changed from 1972 to 2012
-1972= 23 years old
-2012= 32 years old
Percentage of people in the UK in 1989 that believed pre marital sex was not wrong compared to in 2000
-1989= 44%
-2000= 62%
Percentage of marriages that end in divorce
45%
What is the average cost of a wedding in todays society
£30,000
According to the 2001 consensus, what was the percentage of non religious young people that married
Only 3% of young people with no religion were married
What type of pattern has divorce laws led to
-Increase in serial monogamy
When were the grounds for divorce equalised for both men and women and what were the terms of divorce
1923
-Had to have proof of adultery, cruelty, abandonment, ‘empty shell marriage’
When was divorce made cheaper
1949
What do Mitchel and Goody (1997) say about the decline in stigma attached to divorce
-As stigma has decline, divorce has become more socially acceptable and so couples become more willing to resort to divorce as a means of solving their marital problems.
-In turn, the fact that divorce is more common, begins to normalise it and reduces further stigma attached to it. rather than it being seen as shameful, today it is simply seen as misfortune.
Secularisation
-The decline in the influence of religion in society
-For example, church attendance rates continue to decline
What does Fletcher (1966) say about rising expectations of marriage
-The higher expectations people place on marriage make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage.
-This is linked to the ideology of romantic love (an idea that has become dominant over recent centuries), the belief that marriage should be based solely on love and that for each individual there is a Mr or Mrs right out there. If love dies, there is no longer any reason to stay married and every reason for divorce to be able to search for ones true soulmate.
How has the media led to rising expectations of marriage
-Easier to find another partner through dating apps and so expectations surrounding marriage have risen.
Why were individuals less likely to have higher expectations of marriage in the past
-Most had little choice in who they married (particularly women) and at a time when the family was a unit of production, marriages were often set up for financial gain or out of duty to ones family.
-Therefore they were less likely to be dissatisfied with the absence of romance and intimacy in marriage.
What did Allan and Crow (2001) say about rising expectations from marriage
” Love, personal commitment and intrinsic satisfaction are now seen as the corner stones of marriage. The absence of these feelings is itself justification for ending the relationship”
What was the percentage of women in paid work in 1971 compared to 2013
-1971= 53%
-2013= 67%
Factors that have increased women’s financial independence
-Feminisation of the economy
-Equal Pay Act 1970- reduced gender pay gap
-Girls outperformance in education
-Availability of welfare benefits
What is the feminist view on causes of the increase in divorce
-Today, married women bear a dual burden (paid work and domestic labour) that has created a new source of conflict between husbands and wives, leading to a higher divorce rate than in the past.
-This is because it creates a patriarchal environment with men benefiting from their wives ‘dual burden’ or ‘triple shift’
Hochschild (1997) - High divorce rate causes
-At work, women feel valued whereas at home, men’s continuing resistance to do housework is a source of frustration that makes marriage less stable.
-In addition, the fact that both partners now go to work leaves less time and energy for the emotional work needed to address problems that arise
Rushton (2007)- High divorce rate causes
-Mothers who have a dual burden of paid work and domestic work are more likely to divorce than non working mothers in marriages with a traditional division in labour
-However, where the husband of a working wife is actively involved in housework, the divorce rate is the same as for couples with a traditional division of labour .
Bernard (1976)- High divorce rate causes
-Many women feel a growing dissatisfaction with patriarchal marriage.
-She sees the rising divorce rate, and the fact that most petitions come from women, as evidence of their growing acceptance of feminist ideas: women are becoming more conscious of patriarchal oppression and more confident about rejecting it
What does Giddens mean by ‘pure relationship’
-A relationship that exists solely to satisfy each partners needs and not out of sense of duty, tradition or for the sake of the children.
-This results in higher divorce rates
How has the availability of contraception resulted in higher divorce rates
-The greater availability of and more effective contraception has made it safer to have sex outside of marriage, and with more than one person during marriage
-This weakens traditional constraints on fidelity to a marriage partner, and potentially exposes relationships to greater instability
Percentage of lone parent families out of all family types
Lone parent families make up 25% of all families with children
Percentage of lone parent families headed by women
90%
Percentage of lone parent families in poverty
47%
Percentage of divorcees that marry
75%
What culture is extended families more common
Asian families
Who is more likely to be in a one person household
The elderly (widowed)
What is the 2024 life expectancy
82
Percentage of one person households in Uk
29%
When was the extended family most common in Britain
-Pre industrial society as the family was a unit of production
Modernist perspectives
-Functionalism
-The New Right
Chester (1985)- Family diversity
Neo-functionalism
-There has been a change from the conventional nuclear family, to the neo conventional family.
-People are not choosing alternatives to the nuclear family on a long term basis, people still aspire to the nuclear family, the life cycle means that people are constantly moving between different family types and so statistics are misleading as they are merely a ‘snapshot’ of a single moment in time.
(E.G widowed people who are currently living in a one person household once lived in a nuclear family)
Neo conventional family (Chester)
-A dual earner family, where both spouses go to work, not just the husband
Conventional family
-Division of labour is between the male breadwinner and female homemaker
What type of family did Wilmer propose
-Dispersed extended family
Family who do not share a household but keep close ties with eachother
E.g visit grandma every weekend
Do postmodernists have a positive or negative view of family diversity
Positive
Two characteristics of postmodern society (according to postmodernists )
-Diversity and fragmentation:
People can ‘pick and mix’ their identities and lifestyles from a wide range of choices due to increasing diversity
-Rapid social change :
What did the Rapoports (1982) mean by ‘pluralistic society’
-Families in Britain are undergoing a process of change.
-In the past, there was one dominant norm, the nuclear family, however, now families take different structures, resulting in a pluralistic society
Pluralistic society
One in which cultures and lifestyles are more diverse
Rapaports (1982) -5 distinct elements of family diversity in Britain
-Cultural diversity
-Life course diversity
-Organisational diversity
-Generational diversity
-Social class diversity
Percentage of black british/ African Caribbean lone parent families in Britain
51%
Cultural diversity
-People from ethnic backgrounds who have migrated to Britain might follow the customs and norms of the culture of their ethnic group and religion in terms of marriage and kinship
Example of cultural diversity increasing family diversity
-South Asian migration leads to higher extended families
-Black British/ black carribean families have a higher percentage of lone parent families
Life course diversity
-Family structures differ according to the stage reached in the individuals life cycle. E.G. nuclear family to single parent family if parents divorce, to household when moving to uni
Hareven -You cannot take a ‘snapshot’ of one person at one stage in their life, as different family types change throughout the life course
Organisational diversity
-By this, they mean there are variations in the family structure, household type, and patterns of kinship network, and differences in the division of labour within the home
Examples of increased organisational diversity
-changes in conjugal roles/ domestic division of labour, due to the feminisation of the economy
Traditional roles ——————> Neo conventional (dual earning)
Generational diversity
-Different generations/ cohorts have different norms and values
Examples of generational diversity
-Feminisation of the economy
-Decline in stigma attached to divorce, lone parent families, Sam sex families, pre marital sex
-Availability of contraception
Social class diversity
-Demonstrated in the material resources of families, the relationships between couples and between parents and their children, and the socialisation and education of children
Example of social class diversity increasing family diversity
- MC- Delay children and marriage - more career orientated
-WC- Heavier reliance on extended kin E.G grandparents
Stacey (1998)- Divorce Extended family
-Divorce Extended family- members connected by divorce rather than marriage. For example, in laws may help their former daughter in law financially and domestically, therefore she can focus on her career more.
Who proposed the divorced extended family
Stacey (1998)
What is the Individualisation Thesis. Who proposed it?
-Beck and Giddens
-The way that traditional social structures and norms have less influence over us (E.g gender, class and family) and so we have become ‘disembeded’ from traditional roles and structures.
-This has led to increased diversity in the family.
What does Giddens (1990) mean about the transformation of intimacy
-Couples today are free to define their relationship themselves, rather than acting out roles that have been defined in advance by law and tradition, such as the nuclear family.
What has caused the transformation of intimacy according to Giddens
-The availability of contraception
-Feminisation of the economy
Romantic love (Giddens)
-In the modern era, marriage and family life were based on the idea of romantic love, where partners are bound until death and remain faithful
A stable marriage is based on romantic love, which was the ideal
Plastic Sexuality (1990) Giddens
-Sex has become less associated with childbirth, giving more sexual freedom, and so sex has become more of a leisure pursuit rather than an act of love
The pure relationship (1990) Giddens
-Exists solely to satisfy the needs of each partner. As a result the relationship only survives as long as it satisfies each partners needs. It is like a ‘rolling contract’ rather than a long term commitment
-This in turn creates more family diversity e.g lone parent households, reconstituted families, one person households
Giddens (1990)- Same sex couples as pioneers
-Same sex couples have created more democratic and equal relationships as homosexual relationships are not influenced by tradition .
-This way they are able to develop relationships based on choice rather than traditional roles and so both partners can negotiate personal relationships to better suit their needs
Beck (1992)- ‘risk society’
-we now live in a risk society where tradition has less influence and people have more choice. As a result we are more aware of risks
The negotiated family- Beck 1995
-Families that do it conform to the traditional family norms, instead they vary depending on the wishes and expectations of their members. they decide what is best for themselves through negotiation.
-As a result,they enter the relationship on an equal basis. However, they are less stable as if needs are not met, they may leave, leading to greater family diversity e.g lone parent families
The Zombie family- Beck 1995
-A zombie category- appears to be alive but in reality, it’s dead.
People want the family to be a haven of security but in the ‘risk society’ that we live in, todays family cannot provide this because of its own instability
What is the personal life perspective often referred to as
The bottom up approach
Does the PLP agree or disagree with Giddens and Beck
-Agree that there is more family diversity, however they disagree with Giddens and Becks explanation of it
What perspective is Smart (2007) from
PLP
What alternative explanation of family diversity did Smart (2007) propose
The connectedness Thesis
What is the connectedness Thesis
-People are social beings who live in a web of connectedness, networks of relationships and personal histories which strongly influence and shape our range of options and choices.
E.g Parents who separate remain linked by their children, often against their wishes
(Instead of being disembeded, isolated individuals with limitless choice about personal relationships as the individualisation thesis proposes)
Examples of the connectedness thesis (important and meaningful relationships)
-Relationships with friends
-Ficitive kin
-Gay and lesbian chosen families
-Pets
-Diblings/ donor siblings
-Relationships with dead relatives who continue to shape lives
What are Neo tribes (Smart)
Groups of friends who live communally that delay entering an intimate relationship and prioritise their relationships with each other- their friends. This suggests that relationships with friends are now becoming increasingly more significant than family life and couple relationships
