families - changing family patterns

Question 1

types of partnerships

Answer 1

marriage
cohabitation
same sex couples
one person families
living apart together

Question 2

P - marriage

Answer 2

decreasing:

• changing attitudes to marriage –> decline in stigma
• fear of divorce
• changing position of women
• secularisation

rise in divorce = rise in re-marriages (serial monogamy)
age of marriage increasing –> more time in education + career
many cohabit before marrying (life cycle)
less likely to marry in church:
- secularisation
- Catholic Canon Law –> divorcees can’t remarry if spouse is alive
- 2012 –> only 30% marriages religious

BUT - marriages remain popular:

• British Social Attitudes Survey 2000
• legal connections –> next of kin
• aspirational status
• romanticised concept

Question 3

P - cohabitation

Answer 3

= unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
= alternative to marriage
= increased:
- 25% adults under 60 cohabiting
- double no. in '86
- expected to double by 2021
- ONS = fasted growing family type

Reasons for increase:

• decline in stigma –> seen as more acceptable in society
• increased career opportunities for women –> less need for financial security of marriage
• secularisation –> non-religious ppl more likely to cohabit
• economically pragmatic –> expensive - 27k

Perspectives:

• some see it as step to marriage (Coast ‘06 = 75% cohabiting couples expect to marry)
• some see it as permanent alternative to marriage (Bejin ‘85 = its a conscious attempt made by young ppl to make a more equal relationship than the traditional patriarchal marriage)

Question 4

P - same-sex relationships

Answer 4

= appears to be increasing

• illegal till ‘67
• 2013 Same Sex Couples Act
• ‘94 Public Order Act
• 40% increase in 2019 since 2015
• Stonewall ‘08 = 5-7% adults in Britain in a same-sex relationship

= change in attitudes:

• British Social Attitudes Survey
• Increase in 80’s –> Aids Crisis (stigma), Section 28 (Thatcher - banned learning of homosexuality in schools)

= social policy –> high profile celebs through media - normalised, 2014 Marriage Act

Question 5

P - one-person households

Answer 5

increase

• 40% over 65
• men under 65 more likely to live alone

reasons for increase:

• increase in divorce + seperation
• decline in marriage
• older widows –> longer life expectancy + females live longer
• less stigma
• 25% off council tax

Question 6

P - living apart together

Answer 6

= some choose to remain in own home
= or not be able to live together
e.g long distance relationships

Benefits: no legalities + less arguing
Negatives: decrease in housing for others

Question 7

childbearing: background info

Answer 7

children born outside marriage = increasing (cohabitation)
age of women having first child = increasing (career opportunities)
average no. children per women = decreasing (children as an economic liability)

divorce rates = increasing –> rise in lone parent + reconstituted families

Question 8

CB - lone parent families

Answer 8

increasing
- 90% women –> naturally suited, majority get custody)

New Right = rise is bad for society
= ppl rely on welfare system
= not worried about getting pregnant while single/divorced
= leads to dependency culture

Question 9

CB - reconstituted

Answer 9

increasing
at greater risk of poverty –> divided loyalties + financial agreements (stepfather may pay child support for previous marriage)
2011 census = 1.1 mil children in reconstituted
increasing no. second marriages –> less likely to end in divorce
86% children come from women in step family –> more likely to get custody

Question 10

ED - black families

Answer 10

more likely to be:

• lone-parent
• female-headed –> 90% headed by females

reasons:
1) slavery = couples sold separately, women stayed together –> dated + no evidence to support

2) high unemployability in black men = more likely to be in poverty, meaning cant financially for family, leading to marital breakdown –> no causality between unemployment + family structures
3) independence of women = higher opinion of independence –> may lead to stereotypes
4) rate of black single families is inflated (incorrect statistics) = Reynolds - instead many in supportive non-cohabiting relationships –> but few alternative statistics to use to analyse families

Question 11

ED - asian families

Answer 11

more likely to be:

• larger
• extended

Reasons:

• respect for elderly
• obligation to relatives
• kinship ties

Question 12

CB - bean pole families

Answer 12

= disappearance of extended family
= appearance of bean pole family

extended vertically - 3 generations
not extended horizontally - no aunts/cousins
result of demographic changes:
- increased life expectancy - more grandparents
- smaller family sizes