Family Diversity 1 Flashcards
What are some trends for lone- parent families
2012- 26% of all families
no. tripled from 2% (1961) to 7% (2010)
90% headed by women
Give some stats on one-parent families headed by women
33% divorce
17% separation
4% death
46% births to unmarried mothers
Give some reasons for lone-parent families
divorce + separation
unmarried women having children
Why are lone-parent families mainly headed by women
more suited to the expressive,nurturing role and men may be less willing to give up work
courts mainly give custody to women
mothers may be single by choice
What did Renvoize find
professional women were able to support their child without their fathers involvement
What did cashmore find
WC women choose to live on benefits without a partner because they experienced domestic violence
What do Ford and Millar note
lone parenthood is seen as an imperfect family for a number of reasons
What are the reasons for lone parenthood is seen as an imperfect family according to Ford and Miller
cost of the one parent families to the welfare state
lead to a range of negative consequences for children such as in education and become a delinquent ,lack self-discipline and emotionally distirbed from not having a firm father figure
Charles Murray - result of over-generous welfare state
What did Charles Murray claim
lone parent families are the result of over-generous welfare state creating perverse incentives - rewarding teenage pregnancies
creating a dependency culture where people,e assume the state will support them + their children
The New right claimed teenagers are getting pregnant to obtain council housing or state benefits
welfare state needs to be abolished to reduce the dependency culture that encourages births outside marriage
Criticisms of the new right position - defending the lone-parent family (5)
The under 16 conception rate has fallen Ford and Miller statistics snapshot Phoenix and cashmore welfare benefit are far from generous
Explain The under 16 conception rate has fallen to defend the lone-parent family
the rate of teenage pregnant in 2012 is 1/2 the rate it was pre 1970s and only 3% of unmarried mothers are teenagers and the average age for a single mother is 34
Explain Ford and Miller to defending the lone-parent family
suggest poverty may be partly responsible for some lone parenthood. Single women living on council estates with higher rates of unemployment are more likely than others to become single mothers and studies suggests this is not to acquire benefits and they see motherhood as a valued goal as it provides them with a purpose and it is an alternative to long term unemployment
Explain statistics are just a snapshot to defending the lone-parent family
It is rare that a child spends a large amount of time in lone-parent family. On average being a single mother lasts 5 years before they set up a reconstituted nuclear family when they meet someone new
Explain Phoenix and cashmore to defending the lone-parent family
question te assomption that kids from LPF are worse of in terms of socialisation for example.
They argue it is preferable to live with 1 caring parent than with 2 conflicting ones
The NewRight rarely consider that LPH may be better than domestic violence
Explain welfare benefit are far from generous to defending the lone-parent family
LPF are much more likely to be in poverty as a lack of affordable childcare prevents them from working and so 60% of LPF are unemployed and benefits are said to be inadequate and do not act as incentive to pregnancy and many lone mothers are in poverty because of fathers failure to pay child support
