changing family patterns

Question 1

When did there start to be a great increase in the number of divorces?

Answer 1

Since the 1960s.

Question 2

Why was there a peak of divorces in 1969? How many?

Answer 2

125,000- 1969 Dicorce Reform Act: enabled divorce to become easier for unhappy couples to access. Revolutionary piece of legaslation>enabled a “no fault” divorce to be requested>didn’t need an excuse, such as abandonment, to be divorced.

Question 3

Why was there a peak in 1984?

Answer 3

1984 Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act: Allowed couples to petition for divorce after only one year of marriage (previously: 3 years).

Question 4

Why was there a fall of divorces in the 1990s?

Answer 4

Fewer people are marrying in the first place, choosing to cohabit instead.

Question 5

What type couples are more likely to divorce? (3)

Answer 5

Young, have kids before marriage or cohabitat, one or both partners have been married before.

Question 6

What are the 4 key explanations for the increase in divorce?

Answer 6

-Declining stigma and changing attitudes
-Secularisation
-Womens increased financial independence
-Rising expectations of marriage

Question 7

What have improvements in womens economic position lead to? Give an example of these improvements.

Answer 7

Less financially dependent on their husbands>freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage. E.g. the availability of welfare benefits means that women no longer have to remain financially dependent.

Question 8

Developments mean that women are more likely to be able to…in the event of divorce.

Answer 8

Support themselves.

Question 9

Women now have their own separate source of income from paid work, therefore?

Answer 9

Women do not have to tolerate conflict or absence of love>more willing to seek divorce>not having to rely on their husband financially.

Question 10

Summarise the changing role of women in 5 points.

Answer 10

-Better educated
-More financially educated
-Impact of feminist ideas
-Access to easier divorces
-Access to welfare benefits

Question 11

How have the rising expectations of marriage changed over the years?

Answer 11

-1950s: people married for: financial security (women), sex (men), to make it look as if they’re not gay, pass down wealth to children.
-2023: people marry for love>might fall out of love>divorce.

Question 12

What is secularisation (defined by who + when)? What do sociologists argue about this? (2)

Answer 12

Wilson 1966: The decline in the influence of religion in society.
-Religious institutions and ideas are losing their influence.
-Society is becoming more secular. E.g. Church attendance rates continue to decline.

Question 13

What happens as a result of secularisation? (2)

Answer 13

-Traditional opposition of the churches to divorce carries less weight in society.
-People are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions about personal matters e.g. whether to file for divorce.

Question 14

Why might churches have began to soften their views on divorces and divorcees?

Answer 14

They are losing credibility with large sections of the public with their own members.

Question 15

Examples of secular activities? (4)

Answer 15

Living together unmarried, same-sex relationships, contraception, abortions.

Question 16

What is the 1996 Family Law Act?

Answer 16

Sought to find a middle-ground towards the older approach to divorce (fault-based), which lead to: delays, stigma, poor outcomes. This middle-ground was through waiting periods and mediation.

Question 17

What is stigma? Who had been stigmatised in the past? E.g..?

Answer 17

Negative label attached to a person, action or relationship. Divorce and divorcees e.g. some churches often refuse to to conduct marriage services including divorcees.

Question 18

What happens as stigma declines and divorce becomes more socially acceptable?

Answer 18

Couples become more willing to resort to divorce as a means of solving their martial problems.

Question 19

The fact that divorce is now more common begins to…? (2)

Answer 19

Normalise it and reduced the stigma attatched to it.

Question 20

How is divorce regarded today? Rather than..?

Answer 20

A misfortune, rather than it being seen as shameful.

Question 21

How does cost affect fewer first marriages? E.g…?

Answer 21

Average wedding costs:
£18,400=2022
£17,300=2021
-People would rather spend their money differently e.g. house, a car, NOT for a one-night event.

Question 22

How do feminists see high divorce rights? Why?

Answer 22

Desirable- shows that women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family.

Question 23

Evidence for fewer people marrying? (2)

Answer 23

-Marriage rates are at their lowest since the 1920s.
-2012=175,000 first marriage
-1970=nearly double 2012

Question 24

4 reasons for the fall in the number of first marriages? +explain briefly! (same as reasons for divorce)

Answer 24

-Changing attitudes to marriage: quality of relationship>legal status.
-Secularisation: as influence of the Church decline>people are freer to chose not to marry.
-Declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage: cohabitation, remaining single, having children outside of marriage=widely acceptable.
-Changes in the position of women: women are less economically dependent on men.

Question 25

What is cohabitation? Statistic?

Answer 25

-An unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together.
-Estimated 69,000 same-sex cohabiting couples.

Question 26

4 reasons for an increase in cohabitation?

Answer 26

-Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage.
-The young are more likely to accept cohabitation.
-Less need for financial security of a marriage>freer to opt for cohabitation.
-Secularisation>people with no religion are more likely to cohabit, than those with a religion.

Question 27

Limitation of cohabitation?

Answer 27

-The relationship between marriage and cohabitation is not clear-cut.
-For some couples, cohabitation is just a step on the way to getting married.
-Coast states: 75% of cohabiting couples say that they expect to marry each other.

Question 28

How has there been an increased social acceptance of same-sex relationships in recent years?

Answer 28

-Most recently, the age of consent has been equalised with hetrosexuals
-Since 2002, cohabiting same-sex couples have had the same right to adopt as married couples
-2004 Civil Partnership Act gave same-sex couples the same legal rights to married couples e.g. properties, inheritance, pensions.

Question 29

Overall, what are the 2 key changing patterns of marriage?

Answer 29

-Decrease in first marriages.
-Increase in same-sex marriages.

Question 30

With marriage losing it’s appeal, what are people turning to? 2 examples:

Answer 30

Alternative ways of living:
-Living alone
-Living with others
Some are temporary, some are long term.

Question 31

What are the 4 key alternative living arrangements?

Answer 31

-Cohabitation
-One-person households
-Living apart together
-Lone parenthood

Question 32

Give evidence for fewer people living in couples.
Which 2 groups of people are most likely to live alone?

Answer 32

2013: 3 in 10 households contained only one person- tripled since 1961
-Pensioners- doubled since 1961
-Men under 65

Question 33

What has led to more one-person households? Especially amongst…why?

Answer 33

Increase in separation and divorce, especially amongst men under 65- following a dirvorce, children are more likely to live with their mothers, father is more likely to leave the family home.

Question 34

What is ‘living apart together’? Includes who?

Answer 34

A significant relationship, but is not cohabiting or married. Includes about half of the people that is classified as single.

Question 35

What did research by Duncan and Phillips find for the British Social Attitudes Survey (2013)?
Evaluate of their research?

Answer 35

1 in 10 adults are living apart together. However, Duncan and Phillips found that choice and constraint play a part in whether couples live together.
-Choice: a minority actively chose to live apart e.g. because of a previous troubled relationship.
-Constraint: some said that they could not afford to.

Question 36

2 statistics on lone-parent families

Answer 36

-Lone-parent families make up 22% of all families with children
-A child living with a lone-parent is twice as likely to be in poverty, than a child with two parents

Question 37

2 reasons for the increase of lone-parent families.

Answer 37

-Increase in divorce and separation
-Increase in never-married woman having children (more recently)- links with the decline in stigma attached to births outside marriage.

Question 38

What percent of lone-parent families are female headed?
What happened in the 1990s?

Answer 38

90%.
In the 1990s, divorced women were the largest group of lone-parents.

Question 39

4 Reasons why lone-parent families tend to be female headed?

Answer 39

-Widespread belief that women are by nature suited to an expressive and nurturing role
-Divorce courts usually give custody of children to mothers
-Men may be less willing than woman to give up work to take care of children
-Single by choice=mothers may not wish to cohabit or marry, or chose to limit the fathers involvement with the child

Question 40

What are the key ethnic difference in family patterns?

Answer 40

-South Asian families: marry younger, low divorce rate, more children, stricter gender roles, TRADITIONAL NUCLEAR.
-Afro-Caribbean families: lone-parent and female headed, absent fathers.

Question 41

2 reasons why black families have high rates of female headed, lone-parent families?

Answer 41

-Evidence of family diorganisation that can be traced back to slavery: when couples were sold separately, children stayed with their mothers.
-High rates of unemployment amongst black males: black men are less able to provide for their family>abandonment and divorce.

Question 42

What does Mizra argue?

Answer 42

Higher rates of lone-parent families amongst blacks is not the result of disorganisation, but reflects the high value that black women place on independence.

Question 43

Reason for why south Asian families tend to be large?

Answer 43

-Households often contain 3 generations
-Value placed on the extended families: in earlier periods of migration, houses were often shared by extended families.