Changing family patters: marriage + cohabitation

Question 1

How has marriage changed over the last 50 years?

Answer 1

-Women are more financially dependent= don’t require marriage to provide economic support.
-Less people are getting married because of how expensive it is, less stigma towards people are unmarried.
-Women have more access to divorce, Divorce Reform Act 1969.
-Secularisation

Question 2

Reasons for the decline in marriage: cohabitation

Answer 2

-Test of compatibility- people are likely to move in with someone before marriage to see if they’re compatible.
-Is now seen as a long-term alternative to marriage.

Question 3

Declining stigma

Answer 3

-More normalised for couples to cohabitate.
-In some ethnic minorities its seen as unacceptable.

Question 4

Single-hood

Answer 4

-In 1971 england, 6% of people between 25-29 who held professional occupations lived alone.
-2013, increased significantly to 25%.

Question 5

Changing female attitudes

Answer 5

-Young females no longer prioritise marriage + children- Wilkinson (1994).
-Attitudes towards divorce has also changed in regards to scandal and gossip.

Question 6

Teenage pregnancy

Answer 6

-The uK has the biggest rate of teenage pregnancy from 16-18 they were able to access support from govt + benefits.

Question 7

Delay

Answer 7

Chester (1985)- argues that a decline in marriage patterns isn’t due to people not getting married, but people delaying them.

Question 8

Feminist view

Answer 8

-Would see the decline in marriage as positive as women are gaining their independence.

Question 9

New right

Answer 9

-would view this as negative as they see marriage as an important institution in society.

Question 10

Post-modernist

Answer 10

-Stacey would argue that the decline of marriage results in divorce extended families.

Question 11

Reasons for the increase in cohabitation

Answer 11

-Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage: in 1989- 44% of people agreed that ‘pre-marital sex is not wrong at all’, by 2012 65% took this view.
-Increased career opportunities for women- less need for financial security of marriage.
-Secularisation- young people with no religion are more likely to cohabit than those with a religion.

Question 12

Chosen families

Answer 12

Weeks (1999)
-increased social acceptance may explain a trend towards same-sex cohabitation and stable relationships that resemble those found among heterosexuals.
-Sees gays as creating families based on the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’.

Question 13

Weston (1992)

Answer 13

-Describes same-sex cohabitation as quasi-marriages.