Families- T4- Changing Family Patterns

Question 1

what do the marriage trends show?

Answer 1

1972- highest number of marriages since WW2
Average number of marriages have gone into decline
2004- 273,000
2005- 244,710

Question 2

Why is marriage in decline?

Answer 2

Morgan 2003 notes marriage is under threat for a number of reasons:
- people marrying later
-changing attitude to marriage
- cohabitation, declining stigma to alternatives
- secularisation
- increase in single person households
- declining fertility and birth rates
- changes in the position of women
- Rising divorce rates

Changing social attitudes
- Wilkinson- women’s attitudes have radically changed due to priorities, education, feminism of the economy-> gender quake
Secularisation
Cohabitation
Individualism
- more opportunities Smith (2001)- marriage is unrealistic about monogamy
- at different stages of life people have different requirements and this may be needed from a new partner
However this does not reflect a decline in a commitment- civil partnerships have released

Question 3

What is marriage like in different ethnicities?

Answer 3

Berthoud 2000
- % of Bangladeshi and paki-stani women getting married by age 25 -> 75%
-% of white women getting married by 25 -> just over 50%
British African Americans have the lowest rate of marriage- only 39% are married by ages 60 compared to 60% of white adults

Question 4

Evaluation of marriage

Answer 4

Delaying not rejecting
- 1971= brides at 22, grooms at 25
- 2003= brides at 23, grooms at 31
Social attitudes
-People still as important
- children is best in marriage
- benefits of ‘freedom’ don’t outweigh marriage benefits
Remarriages
- show commitment to the institution of marriage
Married men and women is still the main type of partnership in the UK
- 7/10 families headed by married couples (2005)

Question 5

What are cohabitation figures like?

Answer 5

The majority of cohabiting people are aged between 25 and 29
in 1950s number of couples cohabiting before first marriages was less than 2% but by 1996 risen to 77%
ONS-> fastest growing family type in the UK
69,000- same sex couples cohabiting
1/5th are serial cohabits

Question 6

Reasons for cohabitation

Answer 6

in 1998 the British Household Panel (BHP) asked people why they choose to cohabit:
1- Majority: prelude marriage as supposed to replace it. a stepping stone to marriage
2- over half: saw it as a trial marriage- testing the relationship before making it legally binding
3- around 40% saw it as advantageous over marriage
4- some mentioned the absence of legal ties- more freedom to end the relationship

• decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
• young are more likely to accept- Beijing 1985, equal relationships
• changing position of women- less need for financial security
  -secularisation

Question 7

What does the New Right think of cohabitation

Answer 7

Source of concern
Less stable than marriage: Morgan 2003=
- less happy
- more likely to suffer abuse
- stressed and depressed
Child from cohabiting couples suffer: Murphy 2007=
- poor school results
- leave education earlier
- higher risk of serious illness

Question 8

What is living apart together

Answer 8

they are increasingly discussed as an alternative to marriage
these couples do not live together but maintain a sexual relationship and other than lack of co-resident act as partners
Duncan and Phillips 2009- difficult to define this lifestyle- how does it differ from dating
Smart 2011- opinions are divided as to whether this is a modern solution keeping some independence, matter of choice OR it arises out of necessity conditions of work

Question 9

What are the types of marital breakdown?

Answer 9

Can take 3 forms:
Divorce
- legal ending of marriage
- divorce reform act 1969!!! -> ‘irretrievable breakdown’
- 1984-> divorce after one year
Separation
- couples agree with live apart after a breakdown of marriage
- More likely when divorce is harder to obtain
Empty shell marriages
- husbands and wife stay together in name only, no love or romance
- may persist due to children, but are likely to end in separation or divorce

Question 10

Recent trends in divorce law

Answer 10

2004 Civil Partnership Act- legal dissolution of a civil partnership on same groups of marriage
2007- equality assumed in all divorces 50/50 split of all assets including salaries and pensions
2014- same sex marriages became law, same ground for divorce apply to both types of marriage

Question 11

Why have divorce rates increased?

Answer 11

1. Divorce laws
2. Functionalists- higher divorce rates
3. Feminists- women’s expectations
4. Less Stigma and shame
5. Close knit families also in decline
6. Modernity and individualisation
   BUT
   - this does not mean to say people’s attitudes are casual to divorce -> it is still an emotional and traumatic event for a family
   - it also has a severe impact on children

Question 12

1. Divorce Laws

Answer 12

Theyre easier
- however this may reflect our social attitudes to divorce (social expectations of marriage have changed)

Question 13

2. Functionalists

Answer 13

higher divorce rates indicate value of marraige and higher standards (fletcher)
- no longer prepared to put up with empty shell marriages
- may need multiple partners to achieve this
- romantic love- Mr/Mrs Right

Question 14

3. Feminists -> women’s expectations

Answer 14

• Thorne and Collard= women expect more out of marriage, if husbands fail to live up to it they may have to look elsewhere
• Sigle-Rushton= mothers who have a dual burden more likely to divorce
• Bernard= growing dissatisfaction with patriarchal marriage
• Hart= divorce may be a response to frustration of working wives a they feel they have the burden/ responsibility of housework and childcare or due to tension from women as breadwinner
  Improved education and career opportunities-> women no longer need to be financially dependent on their husbands
• welfare benefits

Question 15

4. Less stigma and shame

Answer 15

• socially acceptable ‘normalised’ - secularisation

Question 16

5. close knit families also in decline

Answer 16

less pressure by families to stay together
- society is dominated by privatised nuclear families-> divorce can lead to individual happiness, this is accepted

Question 17

6. modernity and individualisation

Answer 17

traditional norms and values have lost their hold
- beck and giddens- individuals are free to pursue their own self-interests, relationships become more fragile seeking ‘pure relationships’
- rising divorce rates ‘normalises’ divorce reinforces personal fulfilment

Question 18

The meanings of high divorce rates from theories

Answer 18

New Right- UNDESIRABLE-> undermines marriage, social stability, increases social problems and welfare dependency
Feminists- DESIRABLE -> breaking free from oppression
Postmodernists- individual freedom to choose, increase family diversity
Functionalist- not a threat to marriage result of higher expectations, remarriage indicates commitment
Interactionists- what does divorce mean to individuals, Morgan- cant generalise
Personal Life- Divorce can cause problems, finances, contact BUT become ‘normalised’ one transition

Question 19

What are the variations in divorce trends between social groups

Answer 19

the highest rate of divorce is between young men and women in their late 20s- teenage marriages are twice as likely to end in divorce
-Unskilled working classes have a higher rate of divorce
- Childless couples
- Partners from different social and religious backgrounds
- Living apart together couples

Question 20

What is the postmodern approach towards divorce

Answer 20

Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 1995
- Rise in divorce is due to the rapidly changing world where traditional values do not still apply
Now our world is characterised by:
- individuation: less pressure to conform, more freedom to pursue own goals
- choice: greater lifestyle and living choice due to cultural and economic changes
- Conflict: natural clash between men and women due to individuation and the selflessness required by relationships and family life

Question 21

What does New Right think of divorce

Answer 21

Divorce statistics are representative of serious crises within the institution of the family
divorce is too easily available -> people are not as committed to marriage anymore
direct link between divorce and anti-social behaviour among young children

Question 22

exaggerated evaluation of divorce

Answer 22

all this being said, we must still look at the statistics:
- 6/10 marriages succeed
- 75% of children are living with both parents who are legally married
- Therefore this suggests that society still places high value on the sanctity of marriage

Question 23

What are single parenthood/ lone parent families?

Answer 23

come about due to:
- divorce
- separation
- death of a spouse
- greater independence
Ellis Cashmore:
- ‘the one parent family alternative’
1 in 8 families are single parent
majority are working class in poverty
cashmore believed children living in single parent families was perfectly adequate

Question 24

What are the figures like about single parenthood

Answer 24

more than tripled from 2% in 1961 to 7% in 2005 -> 22% of all families with children
approx 1.75 million lone parent families in Britain
90% of single parent families are headed by women, women are seen as expressive leaders, courts favour women men less willing to give up work to care for children
NB -> most single mothers are not teenagers
actually only 3% and average age is 38

Question 25

What is the new right view on single parent families

Answer 25

• children lack discipline
• can be emotionally disturbed
• concerned about the cost to the state
  — Charles Murray- result of overgenerous welfare system, creates ‘perverse incentive’ and a ‘dependency culture’
  However Ford and Millar 1998 -> many experience poverty, debt and hardship
  this may also be the cause of SP. Motherhood is a desirable goal when unemployment is high

Question 26

Evaluation of the New Right view of SP

Answer 26

New right criticised by feminists for not considering that SP may be preferable to domestic violence that is inflicted by some husbands on wives and children
Also welfare is less than generous -> poverty
Many nuclear and cohabiting families the father has nothing to do with the child upbringing
home office no difference in crime rates between the line or dual parent families

Question 27

Feminists view of Single parent families

Answer 27

overemphasis on nuclear families leads to negative labelling of SP by teachers, social workers, police, etc
May be used as scapegoat to explain inner city crime and educational underachievement
Single by choice:
- Renvoize 1985- professional women able to support without father involvement
- Cashmore 1985- choose to live on welfare to avoid abuse

Question 28

Why are there more lone parent families

Answer 28

Greater economic independence of women- no longer reliant on the financial support of men
improved contraception, changing male attitudes and less shotgun weddings- men feel less responsibility to marry due to unintentional pregnancy
reproductive technology is available for women- women can bear children without a male partner
Changing social attitudes- women re less afraid of the social consequences

Question 29

What are reconstituted Families

Answer 29

Step families
- Divorced or widowed people who have remarried with children from a previous marriage
- 2003 -> 726,000 children were living in this type of family
- De’ath and Slater 1992- challenge of RF
— children may feel torn between families
— tense relationship with step parents
— strain on marriage of parents
— if ‘new’ children are introduced this could lead to conflict and envy
McCarthy 2003
- diversity among stepfamilies, some have fewer tensions than others- dont over generalise

Question 30

‘Living apart together’

Answer 30

Duncan and Phillips 2013- 1/10 adults LATs, 1/2 of all people officially classified as single
- reflects a trend towards less formalised relationships
REASONS:
- independence
- social attitudes- don’t need to live together
CONCLUSIONS
- no longer abnormal but not a rejection of traditional relationships

Question 31

Types of extended families

Answer 31

Traditional:
- still present in working class communities
- asian extended families are still very common
Modified:
- Kin beyond the nuclear family still play an important part in the lives of many families- made easier by modern communication technology

Question 32

Evaluation of different types of families

Answer 32

• No universal family type in Britain!
• Growing diversity of relationships= growing diversity of families
• The meaning of ‘family’ and ‘family life’ is changing
• the role of men and women is changing in the family (only 5% traditional roles)