Changing family patterns Flashcards
What was the ‘normal’ family type?
Nuclear family
Around 50 years ago
Now variety of different types of family
What are the three key areas of change?
- Changes to marriage
- Changes to partnerships
- Changes to children and families
Expand on the features of the changes to marriage briefly
Fewer people getting married
People are marrying later in life
Divorce rate has gone up
Expand on the features of the changes to partnerships briefly
More couples are ‘cohabitating’
More same sex couples - now legally recognised
More people living alone
Expand on the features of the changes to children and families briefly
Women are having fewer to no children
More births outside marriages
More step families (result of divorce and remarriage)
More lone parent families
Why is secularisation a reason for changes in marriage?
Fewer religious marriages in church: accounted for 24% of marriages in 2016
Secularisation: loss of religion
More remarriages: 4 out 10
Waiting longer for marriage
Average age (males): 27 in 1972 and 38 in 2017
Average age (females): 25 in 1972 and 36 in 2017
What are the 6 key reasons for change
- Changing attitudes: less societal pressure
- Secularisation
- Social norms (cohabiting)
- Rising divorce: marriages last around 11yrs, almost 50% marriages fail (discouraging)
- Cost: average cost of weddings in UK 17,000 (now 20,000)
- Marrying later
What are the reasons for divorce according to feminists?
- Male domination in traditional families (conflict and dissatisfaction)
- Discontent from being valued at work but undervalued at home
- Expected to work and do housework
What do the new rights say?
Marriage/nuclear family under attack and in decline by women divorcing
- marriage becoming less popular (rates declining in Britain)
Who argues society isnt witnessing a mass rejection of marriage?
Chester
- instead delaying marriage, probably after a period of cohabitation for economic reasons
- 2005: 7 in 10 families still headed by a married couple
What postmodernists argue about the rising divorce rate?
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
What do Beck and Beck-gernsheim argue?
- Rising divorce rate: product of a rapidly changing world in which traditional rules for love, romance and relationships don’t apply
- Postmodern world characterised by individualisation, choice and conflict
What did the postmodernists mean by individualisation?
people under less pressure to conform to traditional goals set by extended families, religions or cultures. more individualistic, selfish etc
What did postmodernists mean by choice?
cultural and economic changes mean people have greater range of choices available in terms of lifestyle and living arrangements (baudrillard: pick and mix)
What did postmodernists mean by conflict?
potential clash between what people want as individuals and what they expect from others in a relationship like a marriage
Who spoke about higher divorce rate as evidence that marriage is increasingly valued?
Fletcher
What was Fletcher’s argument as well as higher divorce rates?
Couples no longer prepared to out up with empty shell marriages
- Want partners who can offer, friendship, emotional fulfill and sexual compatibility
What’s a stat that supports Fletcher’s point?
1960s: most divorce petitions initiated by men
1990s: 75% of divorce petitions taken out by women
Who did a survey of married couples?
Thornes and Collards
What did Thornes and Collard find?
Discovered that women expect more from marriage than men and tend to be less satisfied with their marriages
What has influenced women’s attitudes?
Improvement in women’s employment opportunities
- Women no longer have to stay unhappily married due to financial dependence
- Influence shouldn’t be exaggerated
- Women’s economic independence restricted because of being in part time and low paid work
What are stats to support the influence on women’s attitudes?
- 1994: 58% of workforce was female
- Women’s average earnings still only 75% of men’s
Who speaks about dual burden?
Hart
What does Hart say in addition to dual burden?
- work and responsible for bulk of housework and childcare
- faulted by men to redistribute power at home may lead to divorce
Who talks about the general liberation of attifues in society, specifically secularisation?
Wilson
What does Wilson say in addition?
Divorce no longer carries stigma
- change in social attifues is due to secularisation
- Members of the Royal Family have experienced divorce
What’s another reason for decline in divorce in relation to marriage and state?
marriage receives little support from the state
- Little public money spent keeping marriages together despite emotional and economic costs of divorce
What about cohabitation?
Def: living together in a romantic or non romantic relationship without being married
- Living together is no longer ‘stigmatised’ and socially unacceptable
- Many women now have careers, no longer need the security of marriage
- Secularization: trad religions grown on cohabitation but their influence declined
What are stats to support the cohabitation points?
- about 1/4 of all unmarried adults cohabitate: roughly 2 million couples
- by 2000, 62% of people in Britain regarded sex before marriage as not wrong
- 88% of 18-24 year olds think it’s ok
What’s important to consider about cohabitation?
Many people see cohabitation as a step towards marriage
- decision to have children often propels cohabiting couples into marriage
- for some couples: it’s a permanent arrangement based more on equality and sharing than traditional marriage
What’s a study to support cohabitation as a step towards marriage?
Research by Coast in 2006 shown that 75% of all cohabiting couples intended to marry eventually and saw cohabitation as a ‘trial marriage’
What about same sex couples?
Social attitudes towards them changed: much more acceptable
- Law has changed to make same sex relationships easier
- Lead to many stable same sex relationships, effectively marriages
- another kind of new family: relationships where both partners make a firm commitment over a long periods of time
What laws lead to easier same sex couples?
- 1967: homosexuality was ‘de criminalised’
- Civil partnerships act (2004) gave them the same rights as married couples in terms of: property, inheritance etc
What about one person households?
Number of people living alone has risen: 10% of people (6.8 million)
- Tripled since 1961
- Half are pensioners
Why have single households tripled since 1961?
- Rise in divorce lead to more people living alone (children normally live with mother than father)
- Fall in people marrying: more remain single (lifestyle choice)
- Partner dies (more older people living alone - normally women)
- Some living alone are in relationships just not cohabiting (LAT - living apart together)
> May be various reasons: wanting to keep their own home etc.
