Changing Family Patterns

Question 1

Explain the changing patterns of divorce

Answer 1

• the number of divorces in the UK doubled between 1961 and 1969
• it doubled again by 1972
• it reached a peak of 165K in 1993
• the numbers have fallen a bit but still stood at 118K in 2021
• this means about 40% of marriages will end in divorce

Question 2

Explain changes in the law as a reason for the increase in divorce

Answer 2

There have been three kinds of changes:
1. Equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes
This led to a rise in the number of divorce petitions from women
2. Widening the grounds for divorce to ‘irretrievable breakdown’ made divorce easier to obtain and doubled the divorce rate
3. Making divorce cheaper
The legal aid for divorce cases lowered the cost of divorcing

Question 3

What other solutions are there to an unhappy marriage?

Answer 3

• desertion
  One partner leaves but the couple are legally married
• legal separation
  A court separates the financial and legal affairs of the couple but they remain married and not free to re-marry
• empty shell marriage
  The couple continue to live under the same roof but remain married in name only

Question 4

Explain declining stigma and changing attitudes as a reason for the increase in divorce

Answer 4

• stigma refers to the negative label, social disapproval or shame attached to a person, action or relationship
• Mitchell and Goody say that there has been a decline in the stigma attached to divorce and it has become more socially acceptable, making more people willing to divorce to solve marital issues
• rather than seen as shameful, divorce is just seen as a misfortune

Question 5

Explain secularisation as a reason for the increase in divorce

Answer 5

• as a result of secularisation, the opposition of the church towards divorce carries less weight in society
• people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions about divorce
• churches have softened their views on divorce in fear of losing credibility with the public and their own members

Question 6

Explain rising expectations of marriage as a reason for the increase in divorce

Answer 6

• functionalist sociologists like Fletcher say that higher expectations of marriage make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
• this is the ideology of romantic love; the belief that marriage should be based on love and if it dies that justifies divorcing in order to search for one’s true soulmate
• relationship isn’t seen as a contract like in the past but rather a relationship where people seek personal fulfilment
• despite high divorce rates, functionalists like Fletcher are optimistic and point to the continuing popularity of marriage

x feminists say this view is too rosy. They argue that the oppression of women in the family is the main cause of marital conflict and divorce but functionalists ignore it. They say functionalists fail to explain why it’s mainly women rather than men who seek divorce

Question 7

Explain women’s increased financial independence as a reason for the increase in divorce

Answer 7

Improvements in women’s economic position have made them less financially dependent on their husband and freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage.
- women today are more likely to be in paid work
- equal pay and anti-discrimination laws have narrowed the pay gap
- girls’ greater success in education helps them get well paid jobs
- welfare benefits means that women don’t have to financially depend on their husbands
Allan and Crow say marriage is less embedded within the economic system so spouses aren’t as dependent on each other financially.

Question 8

Explain feminist explanations of the increase in divorce

Answer 8

• the dual burden of paid work and domestic labour has increased the divorce rate
• marriage remains patriarchal and men benefit from their wives’ triple shift
• Hochschild: at work women feel valued but at home men’s resistance to housework creates frustration. Also, both partners working leaves less time and energy for the emotion work that helps deal with issues. Both of these contribute to a higher divorce rate
• Sigle-Rushton: mothers with a dual burden are more likely to divorce than non-working mothers

x Cooke and Gash found no evidence that working women are more likely to divorce because working has now become the accepted norm for married women.

Question 9

What is the individualisation thesis

Answer 9

Beck and Giddens say that in modern society, traditional norms lose their hold over people so they become free to pursue their own self interest. This is the individualisation thesis

Question 10

What is the pure relationship

Answer 10

Giddens defines the pure relationship as one that exists solely to satisfy each partners needs. This increases the divorce rate

Question 11

How do modernity and individualisation increase the divorce rate

Answer 11

modern society encourages individualism such as encouraging people to pursue career ambitions and encouraging a neoliberal, consumerist identity based on freedom to follow self interests. These both lead to marital breakdown.

Question 12

What are the new right views on a high divorce rate

Answer 12

• a high divorce rate is undesirable because it undermines marriage and the nuclear family
• it creates an underclass of welfare dependent female lone parents who are a burden on the state
• it leaves boys without the adult male role model they need
• it results in poorer health and educational outcomes for children

Question 13

What is the feminist view on high divorce rates

Answer 13

They see it as desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family

Question 14

What is the postmodernist view on high divorce rates

Answer 14

They see it as showing that people have the freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs. They see it as a major cause of greater family diversity.

Question 15

What is the functionalist view on high divorce rates

Answer 15

They say it isn’t a threat to marriage but it is just the result of peoples higher expectations of marriage. The high rate of re-marriage shows people’s continuing commitment to the idea of marriage

Question 16

What is the interactionist view on high divorce rates

Answer 16

They aim to understand what divorce means to the individual. Morgan argues that we can’t generalise about the meaning of divorce because everyone’s interpretation of it is different

Question 17

What is the personal life view on high divorce rates

Answer 17

They accept that divorce can cause problems but Smart argues that divorce had become normalised and family life can adapt to it without disintegrating

Question 18

Changes in the patterns of marriage

Answer 18

• fewer people are marrying. In 2012 there were 175K first marriages for both partners, less than half the number for 1970
• there are more remarriages. In 2012 1/3 of all marriages were remarriages for one or both partners. This is leading to serial monogamy: a pattern of marriage divorce and remarriage
• people are marrying later. The average age of first marriage rose by 7 years between 1971 and 2012
• couples are less likely to marry in church. In 1981 60% of weddings were in church but this fell to 30% in 2012

Question 19

Reasons for a decline in the number of first marriages

Answer 19

• changing attitudes to marriage; less pressure to marry
• secularisation
• declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage
• changes in the position of women
• fear of divorce

Question 20

Reasons for decline in church marriages

Answer 20

• secularisation
• churches refusing to marry divorcees

Question 21

Statistics on cohabitation

Answer 21

• 2.9 million cohabitating hetero couples in Britain
• 1 in 8 adults are now cohabiting
• there are about 69K same sex cohabiting couples
• about 1/5 of those cohabiting are serial cohabitants who have had one or more previous cohabitations

Question 22

Reasons for the increase in cohabitation

Answer 22

• the decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage
• the young are more likely to accept it
• increased career opportunities for women mean they don’t need the financial security of marriage and are freer to cohabit
• secularisation

Question 23

The relationship between cohabitation and marriage

Answer 23

• for some it is a step before marriage but for others it is a permanent alternative to marriage
• Coast says that 75% of cohabiting couples say that they expect to marry each other

Question 24

In what ways is cohabitation like a trial marriage

Answer 24

• some intend to marry if cohabiting goes well
• some cohabiting couples decide to marry if they have children
• in some cases cohabitation is a temporary phase before marriage because one or both partners are awaiting a divorce

Question 25

In what ways is cohabitation a permanent alternative to marriage

Answer 25

• Bejin says cohabitation is an attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal marriage
• Shelton and John found that women who cohabit do less work than their married counterparts

Question 26

Changes for same sex relationships

Answer 26

there is evidence of increased social acceptance of same sex relationships:
- male homosexual acts were decriminalised in 1967 for consenting adults over 21
- opinion polls show more tolerance of homosexuality
- in 2004 the civil partnership act gave same sex couples similar legal rights to married couples
- since 2014, same sex couples have been allowed to marry

Question 27

What are chosen families

Answer 27

Weeks: gays create families based on the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’ and describes these as chosen families which offer the same security and stability as heterosexual families,

Question 28

Statistics about one person households

Answer 28

Fewer people today are living in couples:
- in 2013, almost 3 in 10 households had only 1 person
- 40% of all one person households are over 65
- by 2033 over 30% of the adult population will be single

Question 29

Reasons for the increase in one person households

Answer 29

• increase in separation and divorce
• decline in the numbers marrying and more people marrying later
• there aren’t many partners available in their age group

Question 30

Living apart together

Answer 30

Duncan and Phillips found that 1 in 10 adults are LATs- in a relationship but not married or cohabiting. This may reflect a trend towards less formalised relationships.
- some couldn’t afford to live together
- some actively chose to live apart eg to keep their own home
Many believe that couples don’t need to live together to have a strong relationship and 20% see LATs as ideal

Question 31

Stats on childbearing

Answer 31

• 47% of all children are born outside marriage
• women are having children later; the average age of the birth of a woman’s first child rose by 4 years to 28.1 years
• women are having fewer children; the average number of children per woman fell from 2.95 in 1964 to 1.63 in 2001
• more women are remaining childless; 1/4 of those born in 1973 will be childless when they reach the age of 45

Question 32

Reasons for the changes in childbearing

Answer 32

• decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation has led to an increase in births outside marriage
• women having children later, smaller family sizes or remaining childless reflects that women want to have a career and have alternative options to motherhood

Question 33

Stats on lone parent families

Answer 33

• LPFs make up 22% of all families with children
• 1 in 4 children live in a LPF
• over 90% of these families are headed by lone mothers
• a child with a lone parent is twice as likely to be in poverty as a child living with two parents

Question 34

Reasons for the patterns in LPFs

Answer 34

The number of LPFs has risen due to increase in divorce and separation and decline in stigma attached to births outside marriage. LPFs tend to be female headed because:
- the beliefs that women are suited to an expressive role by nature
- divorce courts give custody to mothers
- men aren’t willing to give up work to care for children

Question 35

Explain being single by choice as a reason why LPFs are female headed

Answer 35

• mothers may not wish to cohabit or marry or they may want to limit the fathers involvement with the child
• Cashmore found that w/c mothers chose to live on welfare benefits without a partner because they had experienced abuse

Question 36

Explain Murray’s views about lone parent families and the welfare state

Answer 36

• he says the growth of LPFs is because of an over generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and their children
• it has created a perverse incentive which rewards irresponsible behaviour such as having children without being able to provide for them
• the welfare state creates a dependency culture where people assume the state will support them and their children
• Murray says welfare benefits should be abolished to reduce the dependency culture

Question 37

Critiques of Murray’s view on LPFs and the welfare state

Answer 37

Critics say welfare benefits are far from generous and LPFs are more likely to be in poverty because:
- lack of affordable childcare prevents lone parents from working; 60% of them are unemployed
- inadequate welfare benefits
- most lone parents are women who earn less than men
- failure of fathers to pay maintenance

Question 38

Stats on stepfamilies

Answer 38

• stepfamilies (or reconstituted families) account for 10% of all families in Britain
• Ferri & Smith found that stepfamilies are similar to first families and stepparents role in childcare is positive. But they are at greater risk of poverty
• Allan & Crow: stepfamilies face issues of divided loyalties and contact with the non resident parent can create tension

Question 39

Reasons for the patterns in stepfamilies

Answer 39

• stepfamilies are formed when lone parents form new partnerships so the factors causing an increase in LPFs are also involved in the creation of stepfamilies
• most children are from the woman’s previous relationship than the man’s because children are likely to remain with their mother after a break up
• stepparents are at greater risk of poverty because there are often more children
• tensions stepfamilies face may be due to a lack of clear social norms about how people should behave in such families

Question 40

Ethnic differences in family patterns: black families

Answer 40

• in 2012 over half of families with dependent children headed by a black person were LPFs.
• the high rate of female headed LPFs can be seen as family disorganisation which can be traced back to slavery; couples were sold separately and children stayed with the mother and this pattern persists today
• male unemployment and poverty may making them unable to provide for their family, leading to female headed LPFs

x Mirza: the high rate of LPFs among black people isn’t due to disorganisation but reflects the high value that black women place on independence
x Reynolds says the stats are misleading and lone parents are actually in stable but non-cohabiting relationships

Question 41

Ethnic differences in family patterns: Asian families

Answer 41

• Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households are larger than those of other ethnic groups
• larger household sizes are due to the younger age profiles of British Asians and, the value placed on the extended family in Asian cultures and the need for assistance when migrating to Britain
• Ballard found that extended family ties provided support among Asian migrants during the 50s and 60s

Question 42

The extended family today

Answer 42

• The extended family has declined:
  Charles’ study found that the classic 3 gen family living under one roof is now all but extinct
• but it hasn’t disappeared:
  Wilmott says it continues to exist as a dispersed extended family where relatives are geographically separated but maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls.
• Chamberlain’s study of Caribbean families in Britain found that although they were dispersed, they provided support. She describes them as multiple nuclear families with close contact between siblings uncles aunts and cousins who contribute to child rearing. Therefore the extended family survives because it performs functions for its members

Question 43

Beanpole family

Answer 43

This is a type of extended family which Brannen describes as long and thin:
- it is extended vertically through three or more gens; grandparents, parents, kids
- it isn’t extended horizontally; it doesn’t involve aunts, uncles etc
It is the result of 2 demographic changes:
- increased life expectancy means more surviving grandparents
- smaller family sizes means fewer horizontal ties

Question 44

Obligations to relatives

Answer 44

Many feel a sense of obligation to help their wider extended kin. Finch and Mason found that over 90% of people had given or received financial help and about half cared for a sick relative. However more is expected of females and males and people also felt that help received should be returned to avoid feelings of indebtedness.