changing family patterns

Question 1

approximately what % of marriages end in divorce

Answer 1

40

Question 2

why might the pure relationship lead to more divorce

Answer 2

if people are unable to have a ‘pure relationship’ of personal fulfillment then they are encouraged to divorce.

Question 3

what proportion of marriages end in re marriages

Answer 3

1/3rd of all marriages in 2012 were re marriages

Question 4

give one reason for the increase in the number of one person households

Answer 4

• more divorce

- decline in marriage / more people getting married later

Question 5

identify 2 changes in childbearing patterns in recent years

Answer 5

• nearly half of all children are born outside of marriage (47%)
• women are having children later 2012-28.1

Question 6

identify 3 changes in family patterns where decline in stigma may be partly responsible for the changes

Answer 6

-increase in divorce - goody notes an important change since the 60s has been a rapid decline in stigma attached to divorce
- more cohabitation - decline in stigma attached to ‘sex outside marriage’
-

Question 7

suggest 2 reasons why lone parent families tend to be poorer than couple families

Answer 7

• inadequate welfare benefirs

- most lone parents are women whom generally earn less than men.

Question 8

what can you now grant divorce for that you couldn’t previously

Answer 8

desertion, empty shell marriage, legal seperation, irretrivable breakdown

Question 9

reasons why divorce has increased

Answer 9

• law changes
• decline in stigma / changing attitudes
• secularisation
• rising expectations of marriage
• womens increased financial dependence
• feminist explanations / impact of dual burden, patriarchial insitution
• modernity and individualisation

Question 10

what percentage of women are in paid work (2013)

Answer 10

67

Question 11

why does hochschild say that the home for women compares unfavourably with the workplace

Answer 11

at work women feel valued, at home men frustrate their wives by not doing housework - frustration makes marriage less stable

Question 12

what is the individualisation thesis

Answer 12

the idea that in todays modern society traditional norms like the duty to remain with the same partner for life loses its hold over individuals - as a result each individual becomes free to pursue his or her own self interests

Question 13

what meanings do theorists give to a high divorce rate

Answer 13

• the new right - undesirable/undermines the nuclear family which is needed for social stablilty
• feminists / desirable as it shows women are ‘breaking free’ from the opressive, patriarchial nuclear family

postmodernist & individualisation thesis / individuals now have the freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs

functionalists / shows how people have higher expectations of marriage today

interractionists / divorce means different things to each individual

Question 14

changing marriage patterns?

Answer 14

• fewer people getting married
• more re marriages
• people are marrying later 2012- 32/30 years old
• couples less likely to get married in church: 2012 - 30%

Question 15

% of people that view premarital sex as not wrong

Answer 15

1989- 44%

2012-65%

Question 16

how do people interpret cohabitation

Answer 16

1. a trial marriage - intentions to marry if cohabitation goes well.
2. permanent alternative to marriage - cohabitation is an attempt to create a personally negotiated / equal marriage (bejin)

Question 17

what is perverse incentive (MURRAY)

Answer 17

rewarding irresponsible behavior; Murray argues that the state rewards this type of behavior through the welfare state

Question 18

characteristics of black families

Answer 18

• more likely to be lone parent

- mother more likely to be head of the lone parent family

Question 19

characteristics of Asian families

Answer 19

• bangladeshi, indian, pakistani tend to be larger than other ethnic groups
• such households usually contain 3 gens

Question 20

argument that the extended family has not disappeared

Answer 20

wilmott argues that the extended family exists as a ‘dispersed extended family’ where relatives are

Question 21

what is the beanpole family

Answer 21

a particular type of extended family - it is extended vertically but not horizontally meaning it involves grandparents but not aunties, uncles and cousins