Changing Family Patterns Flashcards
What percent of marriages end in divorce?
40%
What is the most common reason for divorce petitions?
Unreasonable behaviour
63% of divorces come from men or women?
Women
What three laws made is legally easier for divorce to happen?
- 1923: Equalising Grounds
- 1949: Divorce made Cheaper
- 1971: Widening Ground- inclusion of irretrievable breakdown
Michael and Goody argue that the decline in stigma of divorce has fallen since what year?
- 1960
What has divorce become in comparison to being previously condemned by Churches?
- Normalised
What is secularisation?
- Decline of the influence of religions in society- evident in the fact that Church attendance figures have dropped.
How has secularisation contributed to the increase of divorce rates?
- Less church influence means society is less opposed to divorce as a concept and leads to the Church softening their views on certain aspects of their beliefs.
Who is the sociologist for Rising Expectations of Love and what do they say?
- Fletcher: People place high expectations on marriage which makes couples less willing to tolerate unhappiness, which means divorce increases.
- People seek ‘romantic love’ if love is lost there no need to remain married.
How many women were in paid work in 1971?
- 53%
How many women were in paid work in 2021?
- 73%
Why has the changing position of women contributed to increasing divorce rates?
- Less reliant on the male financially due to better welfare options and women achieving higher in education.
How does the Dual Burden contributed to divorce rates according to Feminists?
- Dual burden is a new source of conflict for couples and leads to divorce.
What does Hochschild believe in terms of divorce?
- Home life is unfavourable and a source of frustration for women due to the patriarchal structure of the family which leads to divorce. Longer working hours means there is less time to solve these problems
What did the Sigle-Rushton 2007 find?
- Women who suffer from the dual burden are more likely to divorce than non working women.
Who is the sociologist for Modernity and Individualisation?
Beck and Giddens
How has individualisation increased divorce rates?
- Beck & Giddens argue in a post modern society we seek out our own interests above what society expects.
- We seek pure relationships to satisfy each others needs, when this is not achieved, divorce occurs.
What is the trend in relation to marriages?
- Less people are getting married, it is the lowest its been since 1838
-Serial monogamy is increasing, 2019; 14.7% or marriages were re marriages.
-More likely to marry older, women the average age is 32, men 34
Why are marriages decreasing?
- Changing Attitudes
-Secularisation; 2001 Census: young people with no religion are less likely to marry than young people with religion
-Less Stigma
-Changing Position of Women
-Fear of Divorce
What is a cohabitating couple?
- An unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
What are the general rates for cohabitation?
- The rates are increasing, in 2013 it was the fastest growing family type.
- 2021; 3.6 million heterosexual cohabitating couples, 69,000 homosexual
Why is cohabitation increasing?
- Decline in Stigma
- Increased career opportunities for women
- Secularisation
What does Chester say about cohabitation?
- Cohabitation is apart of the process of getting married, and many couples use cohabitation as a step ‘on the way’ to marriage
Who argues 75% of cohabitating couples expect to marry one another?
- Coast
- This is the idea of a trial marriage
