Changing Family Patterns Flashcards
What is the history of Divorce Law?
1857: Men could divorce unfaithful wives, women had to prove cruelty of the man and very expensive
1969: Divorce Reform Act, more reasons for divorce and without consent
2014: Same sex marriage became law and same grounds of divorce
What are trends in divorce?
- Since the 1960’s there had been a increase in divorce, doubling twice within 15 years of 1961-1972
- Divorces are now slowly decreasing as there is less people getting married to begin with
- Chandler argued that 40% marriages end in divorce
What do divorce statistics show?
- Divorce statistics do not show the number of people who are separated yet still married
- They also don’t show which marriages are empty shell and remain together for the children
- They do not show how many marriages are unhappy
What are risk factors for divorce?
- Marrying young
- Cohabit before marriage
- Children before marriage
- Previous marriages
What are the five reasons for the increase in divorce?
- Changes in the law
- Equality of divorce and more accessible to divorce
- Both partners can now divorce for wider grounds - Decline in stigma
- Less negative ideas surrounding divorce
- Less shame or disappointment
- More socially acceptable to resort to a divorce - Secularization
- Decline of religion meaning it doesn’t go against their beliefs
- Religious institutions are loosing their influence - Rising expectations of marriage
- People have higher expectations of marriage meaning they are not willing to settle for less
- More likely to leave unhappy marriages
- They have now romanticized love - Increased financial independence
- Women are not financially dependent on their husbands so can leave their husbands
- Divorce is now cheaper which makes it easier to access
What are the feminist explanation for divorce?
- Marriage is patriarchal and largely disadvantages women
- Women are treated unequally in the home due to the dual burden and triple shift which creates tension and leads to divorce.
- Sigle-Rushton argues that mothers who suffer from a dual burden are more likely to divorce their husbands compared to a traditional housewife role, however if the man shares the domestic role then the divorce rates fall
- Cooke and Gash found no evidence that working women are more likely to divorce as married women are now expected to work
- Hochschild argued that women feel appreciated in the workplace but underappreciated in the home
- Conjugal roles are unequal which causes tension
- Due to both being in paid work, there is less time for emotional support for the marriage
- Bernard states that women are now realizing that marriage is a form of patriarchal which explains the rising divorce rate and the majority being women
What is the post modernity explanation for divorce?
- Beck and Giddens argue that people are no longer pressure by traditional norms of staying married
- Society encourages individualism and that society now has more choice and encouraged to pursue their own interests which is the Individualisation thesis
- People now don’t want to stay in a loveless marriage and now look for a pure relationship which fulfils their own needs
- Rising divorce rates normalizes divorce and searching for personal fulfilment
- People can become personally invested in themselves and breaks down relationships
What do theoretical explanations believe about the rise of divorce?
New Right: Divorce is eroding society
Feminism: Divorce Laws have helped women gain freedom, equality and independence, it doesn’t mean people are against marriage
What is the impact of divorce on children?
- Hetherington says 75% of children who faced divorce suffered few negative effects
- Bernardes says divorce is less damaging than a negative marriage
- It depends on each child’s experience as it can be for the worse or better
- Some children with divorce face low self-esteem and anxiety however may have long term effects such as a poor relationship with parents
What are different types of marriage?
Types of Marriage =
- Serial Monogamy: Multiple monogamous marriages
- Monogamy: Two individuals marrying
- Civil Partnership: Legal recognition to same sex couples and equal treatment of married couples on the same basis as different sex couples
What are the trends in marriage?
- Marriage rates are decreasing and at their lowest since the 1920’s
- There is a decline of marriage due to secularization and less religious influence
- There is an increase in remarriages which leads to serial monogamy
- People are also marrying later in their life
- Marriage rates for opposite sex couples are now at their lowest level ever
- Less people choose to have a religious ceremony
What are the reasons for the change in marriage patterns?
- More expensive to have a wedding
- Influence of secularization and the decline in religion
- Change in attitudes, a decline in stigma around other alternatives to marriage
- Fear of divorce deters people as they see it as more risky living in a risk society of uncertainty
What are other changes in marriage?
- Increase remarriage = Due to higher divorce, more people remarry after their divorce
- Increase of age of marriage = People now priorities their career and education and then family
- Decrease in church weddings = Religious institutions have less power over marriage and refuse to marry divorcees which is a large proportion
What do perspectives believe about the decline of marriage?
- Functionalism and New Right = Represents the break down of social order and increased social problems such as socialization
- Post-Modernism = These trends follow a shift to a post modern society with more choice and freedom
- Feminism = This trend is positive due to empowerment of women being able to break away from the family
What is definition of cohabitation?
Definition of cohabitation = The state of living together and having a sexual relationship without being married
What are trends in cohabitation?
- More couples are cohabiting with children which is a fast growing family type
- In 2013, 1.9 million couples were cohabiting with children
- Also heterosexual couples cohabiting without children has also increased significantly
- There is serial cohabiters who move in different relationships
- Cohabiting couples are the fastest growing family type as people now choose to live together without getting married
- In 2017, the second largest family type was the cohabiting couple
What are reasons for the increase in cohabitation?
- Decline in stigma of sex outside of marriage
- Young people are now more likely to cohabitate
- Increased career opportunities for women means she is more financially dependent and does not have to rely on a man for money
- Young people are not religious meaning they are less likely to marry
What is the relationship between cohabitation and marriage?
- Some use cohabitation as a stepping stone to marriage
- Others see cohabitation as a permanent alternative to marriage
- Bejin says young people choose to cohabit in an attempt to create an equal relationship rather than a patriarchal nuclear family
- Shelton and John found that women who cohabit do less housework than married women
- Many see cohabitation as a trial marriage to see how they work together
- Chester argues that cohabitation is apart of getting married
- Coast argues that 75% of cohabitating couples expect to marry each other
What are the theoretical explanations for cohabitation?
The New Right: This is breaking down the family as an institution and disrupts social order
Feminism: See cohabitation as a positive thing to escape the patriarchal institution of marriage
Post-Modernism: Moves with the shift of society and living in a more risk society meaning it is easier to separate
What is the trend of same sex relationships?
- There has been an increase in same sex relationships
- In 2012, around 5-7% is in a same sex relationship however this may not be an accurate statistic as due to stigma, relationships will have been hidden
- However, legislation means that there is more same sex relationships
What are types of legislation which increased same sex relationships?
- Male Homosexual Act (1967) = It is decriminalized
- Ability to adopt (2002)
- Similar legal rights as heterosexual couples
- Ability to marry (2014)
What are chosen families?
A chosen family is a group of individuals who choose one another as a significant role in their lives, these people are considered family even though you are not biologically or legally related
What do people argue about chosen families?
- Jeffrey Weeks believes that gay people create families based on friendship rather than biological kinship, this may be because their biological family did not accept their relationship
- Weston argues that gay lifestyles in the 1970’s was very different today as they rejected monogamy and family then having casual sex, same sex cohabitation can be called a quasi marriage
- Allan and Crow argue the absence of legal framework means their family is more flexible but also unstable meaning they negotiate their relationship to suit their needs
- Einasdottir argues some same sex couples prefer to stay in chosen families rather than legally as this limits their flexibility and do not want to appease heteronormative ideas
What is heteronormativity?
Heteronormativity is the presumption that heterosexuality is the normal and any other family type is not normal
- Weeks suggests that chosen families offers the same security as a heterosexual family
What is the trend and statistics of official statistics?
- Official statistics show there has been a rise in the number of people living alone and 3/10 households consist of one person
- Since 1961, one person householders has doubled
- Men under 65 are the most likely to live alone
What are three reasons for an increase in one person households?
- Decline in marriage meaning people are staying single longer or remaining single
- Ageing population means life expectancy for women is higher meaning they are more likely to live alone in later life, also due to a higher life expectancy people are less likely to stay in a loveless marriage so divorce and remain alone
- Increase in divorce means that more men are living alone as children often live with their mother. Social attitudes have also changed towards women living alone
What is the trend of LAT couples?
Levin states that LAT couples are becoming increasingly accepted and an alternate to marriage or cohabitation
Why is LAT more accepted?
- Divorce is increasing
- Technology means they can still communicate
- People want to find a pure relationship working for their own needs
- Change in labour means it is harder to find a new job moving in together
Why do people choose LAT?
- Practical reasons
- Responsibility and care = Gives people independence and space to live alone
- Risk of not wanting to move in and risk it, more common in divorcees
Is LAT a rejection of the traditional family?
- Duncan and Phillips found that adults are in a significant relationship LAT but not cohabitating
- Both choice and constraint play a part in this decision due to cost and practicality
- It is seen as socially acceptable and an ideal relationship
- This may reflect a trend towards less formal relationships and families however does not reject traditional relationships enough
What is the trend of lone parent families?
- Lone parent households have tripled since 1971
- 1 in 4 children live in a lone parent family
- 90% are headed by lone mothers
- Twice as likely to live in poverty
What are reasons for lone parent families?
- Increase in divorce
- Increase in separation
- Never married women having children
- A decline in stigma attached to birth outside of marriage
What does Charles Murray argue about lone parent families?
- Murray argues welfare policies have undermined the nuclear family and gives perverse incentives to start lone parent families which has led to a dependency culture on the state where there is an underclass who depend on benefits
- He believes they are too generous by providing benefits of universal credit for being unemployed or low income
What is criticisms of the new rights view of lone parents?
- Benefits are not as generous as they assume they it is excess money however they are more likely to live in poverty
- They may not be able to afford childcare which prevents them from working with no partner to care for the child
- There has also been a cap on benefits for universal credit which leads to inadequate welfare benefits
- Women generally earn less then men but are more likely to head lone parent families
- Fathers are not regularly enforced to pay child maintenance
Has immigration increased?
What is the trend of black lone parent families?
What is the trend of Asian parent families?
What is the definition of the extended family?
- The extended family is three or more generations living together in one households. This would typically be grandparents, parents and children
- They dominated pre-industrial society but it was then replaced by the nuclear family
What did Peter Willmott argue?
- He argues the extended family still exists but dispersed. They live separately but maintaining frequent contact with one another which is the dispersed extended family
What did Mary Chamberlain argue?
- She did a study of Caribbean families which is a multiple nuclear families
- The nuclear family has decline but an extended family still survives in a different form as it provides important functions for its members
What did Bell find? What is the bean pole family?
- Bell suggests the importance of the bean pole family which is a form of extended family
- This is a multi-generational family which is long and thin with few aunts and uncles
- They provide the function of financial help and domestic help
What did Brannen argue about bean pole families?
- It is long and thin because it is extended vertically and not horizontally
- This means that you have more contact with grandparents rather than aunts and uncles
Why has the beanpole family developed?
- Increased life expectancy meaning more surviving grandparents
- Smaller family sizes meaning there is fewer siblings and horizontal ties. This also links to divorce and having less children
What did Finch and Mason argue?
- Many people still feel obligation to help their wider extended kin
- They found 90% of people give or receive financial support to extended family and care for a sick relative
- However women in the family have the greatest obligation to assist relatives
