Demographic Changes Flashcards
What are the statistical changes in marriage?
According to the ONS, from 1962 to 2008:
Total marriages have decreased by around 50%.
Religious marriages have decreased by around 60%.
Civil marriages have increased by around 60%.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in marriage?
Changing career aspirations of women mean that average age of marriage has increased, and it’s increased the financial and social independence of women.
There’s also been changing social attitudes to other forms of relationships, such as cohabitation of LAT’s.
Gidden’s ideas of confluent love suggest that people will opt for serial monogamy over long-term relationships.
There’s also been a rise in divorce, leading to people becoming more insecure of relationships.
The process of secularisation has led more people to see marriage as outdated.
New Right thinkers tend to believe that government policy has not supported marriage, and the welfare system encourages people not to marry.
Charles Murray links welfare payment to unmarried women, illegitimate births and crime.
What are the statistical changes in divorce?
According to the ONS, divorces in England and Wales have increased massively from 1931 to 2011 but have started falling from 2001 to 2011.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in divorce?
The fall is likely due to a decrease in marriages and an increase in cohabitation.
In 1971, the Divorce Reform Act made it easier to obtain a divorce.
There’s changing attitudes to relationships, with Giddens suggesting that people are more willing to leave partners in search of greater fulfilment.
As people are living longer, people are more likely to leave unhappy marriages and seek new partners.
Changing gender roles and the rise of feminism has led to two-thirds of divorces being requested by females.
The failure of men to adapt to these changing gender roles, combined with growing individualism and the crisis of masculinity can also contribute.
Social attitudes to divorce have also changed, with social stigma being decreasingly negative towards divorce, potentially due to secularisation.
Wilson argues that as the influence for formal religion declined, the church’s beliefs that people should stay together became irrelevant.
Fletcher claimed that people expected more of marriage than in the past.
The increasing independence of women and the rise of feminism mean that women have come to expect more from life than marriage and domestic work.
What are the statistical changes in cohabitation?
According to the ONS, the number of people cohabiting in the UK has increased almost every year from 1996 to 2012.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in cohabitation?
Social attitudes to relationships outside of marriage have changed, meaning cohabitation is more socially acceptable.
Coast claimed that evidence suggests that cohabitation is normal for couples.
In the past, cohabitation was seen as a ‘trial period’ before marriage but recent studies suggest that teenagers now expect a period of cohabitation, even when marriage or a long-term relationship is not their goal.
Morgan (New Right) suggests that people choose cohabitation because they are scared for a divorce.
Economic reasons may also be a reason for increased cohabitation rates.
There is pressure on couples to have ‘dream weddings’, so couples may wait until they’re more financially secure.
A 2013 study reported by the Daily Mail found that 16% of people found that they do not want to marry until they’ve bought a house and 40% felt like they couldn’t afford a wedding.
What are the statistical changes in singlehood?
According to the ONS, the number of people living alone since 2003 has increased for those 45 and older but decreased for those aged 16-24.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in singlehood?
Smith et al suggest that most older people who live alone will not live with other people again.
Durkheim’s ‘cult of the individual’ claims that as traditional farming lifestyles broke down, people began to put themselves before community.
Klinenburg suggests that living alone is seen as a mark of success among younger people.
People most likely to live alone are older, particularly women over 75 who have been widowed.
There’s a steady increase in slight younger people who’ve been divorced and now choose singlehood.
What are the statistical changes in life expectancy?
According to the ONS, both men and women’s life expectancy have increased since 1950, with women living longer, on average, than men.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in life expectancy?
Les Mayhew claims that men’s and women’s life expectancy will converge in 2030.
Improvements in health care, living standards and effective sanitation have contributed.
The gap between women and men has decreased as lifestyles change and traditional dangerous male-dominated industries have declined.
Improvements in technology means that we can now expect to survive illness that might have killed us in the past.
The Beveridge report has led to greater government help for the elderly, the sick and the young.
This could lead to an increased dependency ratio and more strain on families to care for the elderly.
Blaikie concludes that grandparents are increasingly involved with caring for their grandchildren, allowing parents to return to work.
What are the statistical changes in fertility?
According to the Labour Force Survey, fewer women are having children than in the past and those that do have children are having less.
According to the ONS, there were 657,000 live births in the UK in 2018, a 10% decrease from 2012 and lowest since 2005.
Fertility rates decreased in all age groups, except for women aged 40 and over in 2017.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in fertility?
This could be due to the changing roles of women, with modern career aspirations leading to women delaying marriage and having children until later in life. It could also lead women to having smaller families if they want more career progress.
It could also be due to the improved availability and effectiveness of contraception allowing women to have greater control over when they have children.
Greater individualism in lifestyles means that couples are more likely to wait until later in life to have children.
There’s also a greater social and economic cost of raising a child in modern society, with Hirsch claiming that the cost of raising a child is in excess of $151,000.
The infant mortality rate has fallen dramatically due to rising living standards and improved hygiene and healthcare.
Falling numbers of children mean that there will be a greater number of dependant people as there will be less people of a working age.
It could result in a strain on public services if redundancies are made if people are having fewer children.
What are the changes in same-sex relationships?
There’s been an increase in same-sex relationships.
What are the reasons for the demographic changes in same-sex relationships?
This could be due to changing social attitudes, leading to an increased acceptance of same-sex relationships.
Secularisation has also led to greater independence in moral judgements.
Changes in legislation, such as the decriminalisation of male homosexuality and the legalisation of same-sex marriage has helped increase same-sex marriages.
Gidden’s concept of confluent love suggests that people looking for their ideal partner has lead to increased sexual fluidity.
Bauman suggests that people’s relationships are based upon what satisfies their needs, rather than being socially constrained by social ties.
There’s also been changing representations in the media, with greater representations of same-sex relationships on TV.
