changing family patterns- parents and children Flashcards
how many children are now born outside of marriage?
-47% of children are now born outside marriage, over twice as many as in 1986
the average age of women having a first child has risen significantly from what ages 1971 to 2019.
risen significantly from 24 years old in 1971 to 28.9 years old in 2019
the average number of children per woman has decreased from
2.95 in 1964 to 1.65 children in 2019
reasons for changes to childbearing:
–decline in stigma
-increase in cohabitation
-women now have more options than motherhood
many women now seek to establish a career before having children or instead of having children at all(career driven)
decline in stigma
-declining stigma around contraception and abortion, couples have more choice
-declined stigma surrounding cohabitation + having children outside of marriage
-only 1/3 of millennials (34%) think that unmarried couples raising children is a bad thing for society
-declined stigma around sex has changed its perception - procreation no longer the purpose of sex
increase in cohabitation
-more than 40% of children are born outside of marriage
women now have more options than just motherhood
-women may choose to have children later,as they get older become less fertile so have less children
- the equal pay act 1970 meant that women were able to work
-traditional gender roles and ‘duties’ do not apply any longer
changing priority for women
-women want to focus more on their careers first so they delay childbearing
-large families with numerous children no longer the norm
-higher proportion of women are choosing not to have children(approx 1/4 of women today will not have children)
lone-parent families now make how much of all families?
lone parent families make up 24% of all families
how many of these lone parent families are headed up by lone mothers?
over 90% of these families
in the past single parent families were usually caused by?
being widowed but now most are from divorce
re-constituted families account for how much of all families?
account for 10% of all families
how many step-families have at least one child from the woman’s previous relationship
86%
rising divorce and separation
women have become financially independent, and less likely to tolerate a partner who does not meet expectations
-divorce made easier
-welfare state put in place
how many over 16s have been divorced from their partners(current statistics)
9.1% of over 16s have divorced from their husband or wife
it is estimated that how many marriages end in divorce?
42% of marriages end in divorce
how has divorce been made easier? (laws)
- 1857
- 1950
-1994
1857: divorce only possible if adultery could be proved
1950: only possible for adultery, cruelty or desertation
1994: partners simply needed to state marriage had broken down
economic independence
-most women used to be financially dependent on their husbands due to only working low-apid jobs or not working at all —> so trapped in ‘empty shell’ marriages
- today women are more equal to men, so if they divorce they can afford to provide for themselves
reproductive technology
-enables women to bear children without a male such as IVF
reasons for lone parent families
-rising divorce and separation
-economic independence
-reproductive technology
-changing social attitudes
changing social attitudes - lone parent families
-divorcee and lone-parent family hood no longer stigmatised,more accepted in society
-celebrities in the media normalises this and increases exposure e.g kim Kardashian
the new right view on lone parent families and the welfare state
- the new right believe that the rise of lone-parent families is bad for society
-welfare state to generous, created a ‘dependency culture’ individuals are careless about getting pregnant whilst single think that the state will aid them
-argues lone parent family provides inadequate socialisation
-solution: abolish welfare benefits, will reduce the number of births outside marriage
evaluation of New right perspective
(Mooney et al -2009)
-conducted a sudy of the impact of family breakdowns on children’s wellbeing
-found that parental conflict is more significant than parental separation as an influence in having negative impacts on children (e.g emotional and behavioural problems)
the ‘perverse incentive’ ( how the welfare state creates dependency and is negative) is flawed why?
many families (lone parent or not) experience poverty,debt and material hardship
what do Ford and Miller argue?
New right imply that single mothers ‘choose’ the lone parent lifestyle
-other factors such as poverty,absent fathers, material deprivation and unemployment are the reasons for lone-parent households
what would feminists argue about lone-parent families?
-feminists argue lone-parent families are unfairly discriminated against because society unfairly represents the nuclear family as the ideal
-new right sociologists fail to see that single parenthood may be better to families that experience domestic violence
what is the main cause for reconstituted families?
divorce and remarriage
Postmodernist individualism on lone parent
supports the idea that a person is allowed to find the types of relationships and family setup that is right for them.
-They believe that every form of family, including lone-parent families, has the potential to operate well and fulfill the physical and emotional needs of its members.
