Families and Households - changing patterns of family

Question 1

Marriage and cohabitation - statistics and trends

Answer 1

Office for National Statistics 2013 report on marriage:

• In 1972 there were 480,285 marriages in the UK
• In 2011 there was 285,390 marriages in the UK
• 1971 the average age for men getting married for the first time was 25
• 1971 the average age for women getting married for the first time was 23
• In 2011 the average age for men getting married for the first time was 32
• In 2011 the average age for women getting married for the first time was 30

In the 1970s there were about 400,000 first marriages, and today it is about half that.
About half of all marriages today are remarriages.

Marital rates are steadily trending down since the Second World War, where they decreased during wartime then spiked, and following the 1969 and 1984 divorce acts.

Question 2

How have social attitudes changed towards marriage?

Answer 2

• Secularisation
• Change of position of women in society
• Life expectancy
• Changing social attitudes (personal happiness) - People don’t value marriage as much as they used to or they want something different from it.
• Less stigma on divorce or alternative to marriage e.g. cohabitation or remaining single
• More choice and freedom around contraception - less need for shotgun marriages
• Age to get married has increased – people are spending more time in education or living at home or focused on careers.
• Couples are choosing to cohabit and then when they want to have a child decide to get married or don’t
• Many churches refuse to marry divorcees and so many religious couples cohabit rather than get married.

Question 3

Marriage and sociologists - a summary

Answer 3

1. Murdock/Parsons - Func. Stabilisation and reproduction - key function but can this be met
2. Almond (2006) - increased emphasis on the needs of the individuals and less on society’s need for the rearing of children in stable relationships. The family is fragmenting.
3. Patricia Morgan (New Right) - decline in marriage = serious threat.
4. Giddens (1990) - people are looking for pure relationships - enables fluidity when one or both determine they are no longer satisfied with the relationship - move on - postmodern
5. Chandler (1993) -more people choose cohabitation as a long-term alternative to marriage (Morgan thinks = promiscuity!)
6. Ruspini (2015) - changes to family life driven by changes to gender roles; marriage to legitimise pregnancy no longer needed and women invest in education/career. (feminist)

Question 4

What are empty shell marriages?

Answer 4

Where the couple stays together but doesn’t love each other. They may stay together ‘for the sake of the children’, to avoid embarrassment, or for religious, cultural or financial reasons.

Question 5

Social policy and marriage

Answer 5

• Cameron stands up for family values as he announces £1,000 tax break for every married couple.
• Stay-at-home mothers and women who work part time will be main winners.
• Husband or wife will be allowed to transfer £1,000 of their tax-free allowance to spouse.
• Tax break will be enjoyed by gay couples in civil partnerships and in marriage.
• From April 2015, if neither of you are higher rate taxpayers, you will be able to transfer £1,000 of your tax-free allowance to your spouse.
• In effect, if you pay the basic rate of tax and your partner doesn’t use all of their personal allowance, you will be able to have some of it. Most couples who benefit will be £ 200 a year better off as a result
• This encourages nuclear families and functionalist ideas by encouraging marriage; it is engineering of family structure

Question 6

Trends of cohabitation

Answer 6

• Cohabitation involves an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together. While the number of marriages has been falling, the number of couples cohabiting continues to increase and is the fastest growing type in the UK.
• There are over two million cohabiting couple in Britain. About a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting - double the number in 1986.
• The number of cohabiting couples is expected to double again by 2021.

Question 7

Why has cohabitation increased? An examination of trends

Answer 7

• Decline in social stigma attached to sex outside marriage. In 1989, only 44% of people agreed that ‘premarital sex is not wrong at all’, but by 2000, 62% took this view (British Social Attitudes 2000)
• Increased secularisation: according to the 2001 Census, young people with no religion were more likely to cohabit than those with a religion.
• Young people are more accepting of cohabitation: 88% of 18-24 years old thought ‘it is alright for a couple to live together without intending to get married, but only 40% of those over 65 agreed (Social Trends 34, 2004)

Question 8

Why is cohabitation the fastest growing family type?

Answer 8

• Robert Chester (1985) argues that for most people cohabitation is part of the process of getting married; it is now part of the life cycle
• Ernestina Coast (2006) found that 75% of cohabiting couples say they expect to marry each other.

Question 9

Same-sex relationships and marriage

Answer 9

• In 2005 same sex couples were allowed to confirm and legalize their relationship in the form of civil partnerships.
• Civil partnerships gave same-sex couples the right to the same legal treatment across a range of matters as married couples but the law did not allow such unions to be referred to as marriages.
• The government changed the law in England and Wales to allow gay marriage in 2015.
• This type of marriage is increasing - will it follow the same pattern as heterosexual marriage in time in terms of trends?

Question 10

Divorce trends and statistics

Answer 10

• Since irretrievable breakdown became a feature in the Divorce Reform Act the number of divorces have increased as stigma has reduced and social attitudes have changed.
• This has led to an increase in ‘broken homes’ but many say this is better than empty shell marriages where people are unhappy.
• As society has undergone secularisation and has become less religious, it has become more acceptable for couples to live in a cohabiting relationship.
• In 1971, there were 80,000 divorces, and in 2001 there were 300,000 marriages
• The trends - divorce increases, remarriages increase too (people still get married - reconstructed families), marriage long term decline
• The total number of marriages has been decreasing as secularisation occurs, women’s independence grows and a rise of cohabitation
• Divorce has steadily increased since WW2, spiking with the introduction of the 1969 Divorce Reform Act
• Divorce is most common between 35-49 years old, with women more likely to get divorced than men, but the gap is not huge

Question 11

Prior to 1857 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 11

• Divorce is only available as an act of parliament

- There are very few divorces

Question 12

After 1857 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 12

• New divorce court, double standards for men and women

- Only men can get divorced

Question 13

1923 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 13

• Women on equal footing with men - adultery was the only grounds for divorce
• Increase in divorce if adultery can be proved

Question 14

1937 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 14

• Other grounds were included such as desertion, cruelty or an unsound mind
• Increase in divorce

Question 15

1949-50 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 15

• Legal Aid gave assistance to those who couldn’t afford to go to court
• Increase in divorce

Question 16

1970 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 16

• Divorce Reform Act - another ground added, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage which meant they no longer needed a guilty party to divorce
• Big increase in divorce

Question 17

1985 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 17

• Time limit for divorce reduced from 3 years to 1

- Increase in divorce

Question 18

1998 divorce acts / state of divorce

Answer 18

• Family law bill was introduced which required couples to have a period of reflection
• Decrease in divorce

Question 19

What percentage of marriages end in divorce?

Answer 19

• The estimated percentage of marriages ending in divorce (assuming 2010 divorce and mortality rates throughout the duration of marriage) is 42%
• Around half of these divorces are expected to occur in the first 10 years of marriage (between 4 and 8 years of marriage is when divorce is most likely)
• Average age of marriage is 32 years
• 60% of marriages reach their 20th anniversary
• 6% of marriages reach their 60th anniversary (2013)
• 7/10 divorces are petitioned by women

Question 20

What are the reasons for increased divorce rates?

Answer 20

• Changes in the law
• Decline in social stigma
• Secularisation
• Marital expectations have risen
• Individualisation thesis
• Women have financial independence
• Increasing life expectancy

Question 21

Divorce and sociological theorists

Answer 21

• Ronald Fletcher (Func.) - 1996; people have higher expectations and demand love from marriage now
• Juliet Mitchell and Jack Goody (Postmodernists) - 1997; less stigma attached, divorce is normalised in society, breakdown in metanarratives of religion
• Jessie Bernard (Feminist) - 1976; women sense growing frustrations with patriarchal marriage - family must replicate their experience outside of the home of more equality
• Allen and Crow (Postmodernists) - 2001; love and personal satisfaction are key to successful marriage - when these are gone, divorce is inevitable

1. Women are dissatisfied with marriage
2. Rapid decline since the 1960s in the stigma attached to divorce
3. Higher expectations people place on marriage today

Question 22

Theoretical perspectives - Functionalism

Answer 22

• Functionalists argue that a high divorce rate does not necessarily prove that marriage as a social institution is under threat.
• It is simply the results of people’s higher expectations of marriage and shows people’s continuing commitment to the idea of marriage
• Divorce has a function for society - the values of marriage have changed to fit society

Question 23

Theoretical Perspectives - The New Right

Answer 23

• New Right see a high divorce rate as undesirable because it undermines the traditional nuclear family.
• In their view, divorce creates an underclass of welfare-dependent female lone parents and leave boys without the adult male role model.

Question 24

Theoretical Perspectives - Feminists

Answer 24

• Feminists disagree with the New Right perspective.
• They see high divorce rates as desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family.

Question 25

Theoretical Perspectives - Postmodernist

Answer 25

• Postmodernist sees a high divorce rate as giving individuals the freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs.
• They see it as a cause of greater family diversity, which is a positive thing in society.

Question 26

Child-rearing - First Time Mothers statistics

Answer 26

• Average age of first time mothers 28.8 (in 2017)
  Fathers 33.4. ONS (average first time mum age was 23.7 in 1971)
• The average age of both the mother and father is increasing, with fathers always being older than mothers
• The current average age of a mother is 30.5 yrs
• The data on age of father wasn’t even collected until 1964 (indicates a lot about the role of fathers in child rearing/birth)
• There was a dip in the 1960s when women had children younger - ‘hippy’ subculture, women’s liberation, free love and the introduction of contraception/abortion (Abortion Act 1967)

Question 27

Reasons for the decrease in fertility rates -

Answer 27

• Improved access to contraception
• The reduction in mortality rates in children ages under 5 years - women have fewer babies
• Lower levels of fertility
• Difficulties conceiving because of postponement in childbearing

Question 28

Childbearing statistics

Answer 28

• More women are remaining childless: it is predicted that a quarter of those born in 1973 will be childless when they reach the age of 45
• Women are having fewer children than in the 20th century. Although two children remains the most common family size, the average number of children per family in the UK has dropped - from 2.0 in 1971 to 1.8.
  4 out of 10 children are now born outside of marriage; but 90% were jointly registered and 75% had parents living at the same address - so cohabiting.
• Women are having children later: between 1971 and 2005, the average age at the birth of their first child rose more than three years to 27.3 years
• A stillbirth is a baby born after 24+ gestation and which did not, at any time, breathe or show signs of life. On 1 October 1992 the Still-Birth Act 1992 came into force, altering the definition of a stillbirth to 24+ instead of 28 or more weeks completed gestation. (this also affected the abortion act too)

Question 29

Child-rearing practises

Answer 29

• Lone-parent families now make up 24% of all families. One child in four lives in a lone-parent family. Over 90% of these families are headed by lone mothers.
• Until the early 1990s, divorce women were the biggest group of lone mothers. From the early 1990s, single (never married) women became the biggest group of lone mothers.
• A child living with a lone parent is more than twice as likely to be in poverty as a child living with two parents.