Families- changing family patterns Flashcards
What is a definition for the divorce rate?
-the number of divorces per 1000 married couples per year
2 stats on divorce
-around 40% of marriages end in divorce
-7/10 petitions came from women
Patterns of divorce rate over time
-rose rapidly between 1961 and 1972
-peaked in 1993 - 165,000 divorces
-recently, rate has been falling due to less people becoming married
How has changes in the law lead to the increase in divorce rates? - key dates
-evaluation?
-equalising the grounds for divorce between men and women - 1923 - prior to this, men could only divorce women for being unfaithful
-divorce was made cheaper - 1949 - made more affordable as state offered legal aid
-widening the grounds for divorce - 1969 - Divorce Law Reform Act where sole ground for divorce was ‘irretrievable breakdown’ rather there being a ‘guilty party’
-eval: doesn’t explain why people take advantage of law changes
Changes in the divorce law - post 1971
-1984- minimum period of marriage went from 3 years to 1
-1996- Family Law Act meant after a ‘period of reflection’, a married couple could get divorced, regardless of how long they had been married for.
-2007- equality was made stronger in divorce settlements - 50/50 split of all assets
How has changing social values lead to the increase in divorce rates? - sociologists?
-evaluation?
-less social stigma attached to divorce
-considered in the past that couples should not divorce for the sake of the children
-rather than being seen as shameful, today it is more likely to be regarded simply as a misfortune
-sociologists are Mitchell and Goody
-eval: family patterns continue to be traditional and most children are brought up in married couples so have more influence on them wanting the same thing
How has secularisation lead to the increase in divorce rates? -stat?
-evaluation?
-decline in the influence of Christianity on society
-traditional opposition to divorce from the church carries less weight - people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings
-less than 40% of marriages now involve a religious ceremony
-eval: Church Of England now allow divorcees to remarry in church - suggests that there is still a demand for religious ceremonies
How has changing expectations of marriage lead to the increase in divorce rates? - sociologist?
-evaluation?
-people now have higher expectations of what a marriage should be like
-makes couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
-people will divorce until they find the right partner
-previously, marriage was more about economic reasons rather than love or intimacy
-sociologist is Fletcher
-eval: feminists say this explanation fails to explain why it is mainly women rather than men that seek divorce
How has changes in the position of women in paid work lead to the increase in divorce rates?
-sociologist?
-evaluation?
-women have gained a dissatisfaction of domestic life within the patriarchal family meaning they are more likely to start divorce proceedings
-Hochschild argues that for many women, the home compares unfavourably with work
-at work, they feel valued and and at home they feel frustrated.
-eval: even if they feel valued at work, they have triple shift to deal with
How has changes in the position of women economically lead to the increase in divorce rates?
-evaluation?
-women are now less financially dependent on men meaning they are freer to end a marriage
-girls greater success in education allows them to receive better jobs
-availability of welfare benefits means women no longer have to be dependent on her husband to support her.
-eval: some women do not want to work and are fine being dependent on their husband
Impact of divorce on children
-lower self esteem, depression
-more romantic difficulties when they are older
Impact of divorce on society
-feminist and new right view
-New Right:
-undermining the nuclear family
-leading to welfare dependency
-leads to boys not having a role model
Feminist:
-freed women from patriarchal family
-divorce laws have helped women to gain freedom, independence and social equality
What is a definition for cohabitation?
-two unmarried people who live together and are involved in a sexually intimate relationship
Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - first marriages
-fewer people getting married for the first time
-due to the stigma vanishing and divorce increasing
Current pattern of marriage
-fewer people marrying in the UK - marriage rates at its lowest since 1920
-1/3 of all marriages had partners who had married before
Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - changing attitudes/declining stigma- stats?
-less pressure on people to get married
-individuals can now choose what type of relationship they want
-legal status less important to people
-pregnancy no longer leads to marriage
-in 1989, 70% believed that couples who wanted children should get married
-in 2012, this went down to 42%
Reasons for the decline in marriage and increase in cohabitation - fear of divorce
-people may not get married as they see more couples getting divorced so are afraid their marriage might end in divorce
-don’t want money split 50/50
-can also link increase in cohabitation to increase in divorce (secularisation, change in position of women)
Why might cohabiting couples have a more equal relationship to a married couple?
-easier to split up so men need to be on best behaviour
-share domestic tasks equally
Diversity of partnerships - same sex relationships
-stats and key dates
-estimated 5-7% of pop are in a same sex relationship
-in 2004, the civil partnership act gave same sex couples similar legal rights to married couples in respect of pensions and inheritance of private property
-2014- same sex couples could marry
Diversity of partnerships - chosen families
-sociologist?
-an LGBTQ person has family who don’t accept them so go to friends for support - this is their chosen family
-sociologist Weeks says that increased social acceptance may explain the trend towards same sex cohabitation and stable relationships that resemble those found in heterosexual relationships
Diversity of partnerships - one person households- stats?
-fewer people are living in couples today
-in 2019, 3 in 10 households contained one person
-this is due to increase in divorce and decrease in marriage generally
Diversity of partnerships - living apart together- stats?
-sociologists?
-why do they occur?
-this is when couples have an intimate relationship but live at different addresses
-in early 2000’s, LAT’s accounted for 10% of adults
-sociologists are Duncan and Phillips
-could be caused by constraints (couples not being afford to live together) or choice (too early to cohabit or bad previous relationship)
Stats on childbearing
-nearly half of all children are born out of a marriage
-avr age of women having children has risen by 4 years from 1971 to 2019
Factors that affect fertility rate or family size?
-contraception
-compulsory education
-changing position of women
-decline of infant mortality rate
-geographically mobile workforce
-changing values/expectations
