FAMILIES & HOUSEHOLDS - FAMILY DIVERSITY

Question 1

types of family diversity

Answer 1

NUCLEAR FAMILY:
->heterosexual married couple with dependent children
->in 2006, 2/3 of all families with dependent children were headed by a married couple
->in 2019, married and civil partner families accounted for the largest share of families with dependent children (61%), followed by lone parent families (22%) and cohabiting couples (16%)

EXTENDED FAMILY:
->the classic extended family decreased from the 1960s onwards, but it is increasing again
->the Independent (2005) suggested that there was now an “extended financial family” where 3 generations live together for financial reasons

RECONSTITUTED FAMILIES:
->step-families are the fastest growing family type in the UK
->it is estimated that almost 1/3 of families have a step child from a previous relationship, meaning almost 2 mil children are living in a 2-parent family where one parent is not their own (2019)

SINGLE/LONE-PARENT FAMILIES:
->1/4 children live in lone-parent families (2019)
->86% are headed by women
->co-parenting is increasing

INCREASING CO-HABITATION:
->in 2019, cohabiting couple families were the second most common family type
->nearly 2/3 of babies born outside of marriages are born to cohabiting couples

SERIAL MONOGAMY:
->not polyamory, but having multiple partners over time
->this is on the increase

INCREASING GAY COUPLES HAVING CHILDREN:
->increased substantially in recent years, with an increase of 53% from 152,000 in 2015 to 230,000 in 2018

INCREASING CO-PARENTING:
->this is where divorced partners still parent their children together
->this is increasing due to factors like increasing divorce rates, and campaigns like Fathers For Justice (dads who want joint custody)

GROWTH IN LONE-PARENT HOUSEHOLDS:
->lone parent families have increased significantly over the last 20 years
->possibly due to higher proportions of men than women never marry, and women have higher life expectancy

Question 2

explanations for increased family diversity

Answer 2

SOCIAL/CULTURAL CHANGES:
->there have been quite considerable changes in social norms and values, particularly with regards to sexuality over the last 50 years or so
->eg. sex outside of marriage would have once been seen as a huge issue of shame
->as shame of birth outside marriage receded, the number of single parents and cohabiting parents increased

LEGAL CHANGES:
->an enormous amount of legislation affecting family life has been passed over the last 50 years
->eg. the introduction of civil partnerships (2004), same sex marriage (2014), divorce reform (1969), abortion rights (1968)

RELIGIOUS CHANGE:
->through a decline in religious beliefs (sex before marriage, divorce, and same sex marriage) has increased, mainly due to younger generations and modern concepts

CHANGING STATUS OF WOMEN:
->male breadwinner and housewife idea undermined
->the mining strike increased the role of women (and mindsets started to change)
->women became allowed to work
->1/5 women are now childless
->2/3 women with pre-school age children are now in employment

THE WELFARE STATE:
->changes to welfare have been accused of either encouraging or discouraging some forms of family
->”overly generous” welfare payments encourage lone parenthood (1980s)
->reduction in housing benefit/universal income

ECONOMIC CHANGE:
->the loss of a single male breadwinner in a family was caused by a fundamental shift in the nature of employment
->Flour & Buchanan (2001) pointed out that marriage is no longer economically necessary for women, fewer people are choosing to marry