Changing Patterns of Relationships Flashcards
Marriage patterns
- Marriage in Britain peaked in 1970 and has declined since
- The greatest decline has benign the number of first marriage, with the majority of marriages being re-marriages
- Average age of marriage is increasing (2005- 32 for men 29 for women)
- Less religious marriages (61% civil services)
Cohabitation patterns
- Cohabitation is becoming more popular
- By 1997, 24% of couples between 16-59 were cohabiting
- Many marriages after a period of cohabitation, or after having a child
- Some see cohabitation as a replacement for marriage (especially in divorcees)
- Lesbians, Gay couples and families are increasing numbers of cohabiting couples
- 75% of births outside of marriage were registered by both parents, suggesting cohabitation
Divorce patterns
- Dramatic rise (800 per year in 1900 to 160,000 per year in 1990)
- Decline in number of divorces because there are fewer married couples to divorce
- Divorce rate risen from 2.1 per 1000 in 1961 to 13.5 per 1000 in 1991
Changes in divorce legislation
- 1949-1950- Legal aid gave assistance for people that could not afford to go to court
- 1970- Divorce reform act, the ground for divorce no longer required a ‘guilty party’, not ‘irretrievable breakdown of the marriage’
- 1985- time limit for divorce reduced from three to one year
- 1996- Family Law Bill ‘period of reflection’ later dropped
- 2014- same sex marriage legal, with same grounds for divorce as heterosexual marriages
Explanation - secularisation
- Less people attending religious institutes, religious vows has less influence over the population
- Increase of civil marriages means that marriage is not seen as sacred and so vows are breakable
- British society has become more diverse in terms of religion, ethnicity and culture and so marriages bridge these divisions and so couples are less likely to have a marriage ceremony that celebrates one faith.
Explanation - changes in law
- Acquisition of divorce easier and quicker
* women have equal rights in terms of jobs, opportunities and finance
Explanation - state support
- Women as lone mothers or divorcees are supported by the state by child benefit and income support
- Families are able to leave elderly to live on their own as they have support with day-care, meals-on-wheels, supplementary pensions etc.
Explanation - women’s position
- Women have gained rights and begun to achieve equality
- Women now see career and a job as an important part of their lives
- Now more independent and able to support themselves without the help of a man
- This has effected divorce rates and women feel more equipped to raise a child by themselves. In 1950, 3/4 of divorce files were made by women- reflecting confidence to be independent
Explanation - changing social attitudes
- Social attitudes have changed patterns in divorce in a ‘snowball’ effect
- cohabitation is no longer seen as ‘living in sin’ it is now a ‘normal’ situation
- Marriage is no longer seen as necessary
- Tolerance towards legitimacy of children as ‘single parent’ families become more common
- Gay and lesbian relationships are more accepted and tolerated
- More focus on self fulfilment rather than what is seen by outsiders as acceptable
- Marriage is expensive
- Divorce being more common may put others off of marriage
Single parent families
- By 1993, 22% of families were lone parent (20% mothers, 2% fathers)
- Britain has the second highest lone parenthood
- In the past reasons for high numbers of lone parents was due to death of a parent, though now only 1% is due to this, 12% were due to divorce, 8% due to mothers who never married
- Teenage mothers have declined
Other changes in the family
o More reconstituted families (when divorcees remarry)
o 1998- 28% households had one person, 1/2 elderly, 1/2 divorcees or never married
o 34% households contain only a couple (no children)
o Asian families are larger than other ethnic groups (three generations) though this may include living close to each other
o Black families have higher proportion of lone-parent families (women’s need for independence, long term effects of slavery, high rates of male desertion)
Neoliberal
o changes threaten the traditional nuclear family
o Increase in promiscuity, cohabitation and divorce are all detrimental to the family
o Undermines traditional family roles (feminism and equality also does this)
o State support is too costly, and encourages immorality and welfare scrounging
o Single parent families are seen as ‘defective’
o Lack of traditional structure leads to inadequate socialisation and lack of male role models, leading to juvenile delinquency, educational failure and drug abuse.
o Murray- Single parenthood has lead to an ‘underclass’
o Feminists may say that the views on lone mothers are wrong because there is little ‘incentive’ to gain poor housing and low income provided by the state
Feminist
o women have less to gain from marriage
o divorce allows women to escape conflict and/or violence
o changes are generally positive for women (increase independence)
o Single parent families and problems come from ‘bad’ not ‘broken’ homes
o Dallos and Sapsford (1995) lone parenting may now be a positive choice
Postmodernists
o Individuals are able to make relationships that suit them individually
o relationship ties are not as strings they may not feel a ‘duty’ to stay together
o Marriage ties are less strong, women can build careers outside of the family and traditional gender roles
o serial monogamous relationships may be more common and lone parenthood can be a positive choice
Disintegration of the family
- Dennis (1993)- Single parent families may have ‘committed fathers’
- Cohabitation and births outside of marriage do not mean that the relationship is not stable or committed
- Chester (1985)- reconstituted families are ‘neo-conventional’ made up of two parents and children, with commitment. Though the woman may be more economically active.
- Brown (1995)- fewer ‘shotgun’ weddings than in the past and more cohabitation, suggesting more stability
- Gillis (1985)- between 1850 and 1950 were exceptional years, before them, couples lived together and only married when a expecting a child.
