F+H - Changing Family Patterns Flashcards
What percentage of marriages now end in divorce?
40%
What are some reasons for the increase in divorce?
- Legal changes.
- Less stigma.
- Secularisation.
- Higher expectations of marriage.
- Women’s financial independence.
What are some reasons for the decrease in first marriages?
- Changing attitudes.
- Alternatives such as cohabitation.
- Women’s economic independence.
- Impact of feminism.
- Rising divorce rates (puts people off).
What are some trends being seen in marriage?
- More re-marriages.
- Later marriages.
- Fewer church weddings.
Approximately how many couples in England and Wales cohabit?
1.5 million couples.
Why has their been an increase in gay marriage and same-sex relationships?
- Less stigma.
- More equality policies.
- People are more open about it.
How many families are lone-parent families?
Approximately one quarter.
Why are stepfamilies or reconstituted families increasing?
Due to increased divorce and remarriage.
What are some ethnic differences in family patterns?
- More black lone parents (49% of families).
- Larger Asian households due to the importance of the extended family.
How do sociologists evaluate ethnic differences in family patterns and lone-parent families?
Heidi Mirza (1997) argues that the higher rates of lone-parent families among black families reflects the high value that black women place on independence.
Tracey Reynolds (1997) argue that many “lone” parents are in stable, supportive but non-cohabiting relationships.
What is the dispersed extended family?
A family where there are 3+ generations but not in the same household.
What did Parsons believe had happened to the extended family?
It had been replaced by the nuclear family after the shift from pre-industrial to industrial society.
How can we evaluate ideas about the extended family?
- Wilmott (1988) argues it continues to exist as a ‘dispersed extended family’ where relatives are geographically separated but keep in frequent contact through visits and phone calls.
- Mary Chamberlain (1999) found that despite being dispersed, extended families continued to provide support to each other.
- The nuclear family was more common in pre-industrial society anyway.
What is the beanpole family?
A family that’s extended through 3 generations but not horizontally where it would involve aunts, cousins etc.
What is the New Right’s view on family diversity?
They’re opposed to it because it undermines the traditional nuclear family, which they believe to be the natural type.
Murray (1984) sees the growth of lone-parent families as resulting from an overgenerous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and their children. He argues that this has created a ‘perverse incentive’; it rewards irresponsible behaviour such as having children without being able to provide for them. The welfare state creates a ‘dependency culture’.
How can we evaluate the New Right perspective on changing family patterns?
Welfare benefits are far from generous and lone parents’ families are much more likely to be in poverty due to:
1. Lack of affordable childcare prevents parents from working (60% are unemployed).
2. Inadequate welfare benefits.
3. Most lone parents are women, who generally earn less than men.
4. Failure of fathers to pay maintenance, especially if they have formed a second family that they have to support.
What did Chester (1985) say about family diversity?
There is some diversity but the nuclear family remains dominant.
The only important change is the one to the neo-conventional family which looks the same as the nuclear family but have key differences.
What did Chester say about cobhabitation?
It is a temporary phase which can lead to marriage.
What were the 5 types of family diversity as identified by the Rapoports?
Organisational
Cultural
Class
Life cycle
Generational
What did the Rapoports say about family diversity?
It is a good thing and it helps to meet people’s needs.
What is the individualisation thesis?
The idea that individual self-interest governs out actions.
What did Giddens say about postmodern families?
- They exist to satisfy each partner’s needs.
- We’ve also become disembedded from traditional family structures, which now gives us more choice in how we lead our lives.
What is the negotiated family as put forward by Beck?
The type of family where it varies according to each member’s wishes.
What is the connectedness thesis?
A personal life perspective put forward by Smart (2007) which says that traditional patriarchal norms and structural inequalities still limit our choices about relationships, identities and families.
We make decisions about relationships within a web of connectedness.
What is Living Apart Together?
Duncan and Phillips found that one in 10 adults are LAT – they are in a significant relationship but not married or cohabiting.
This may reflect a trend towards ‘families of choice’.
However, Duncan and Phillips found that both choice and constraint play a part in whether couples live together. For example, some said they could not afford it.
