family diversity Flashcards
What is the cereal packet image of family?
Ideal family, so the nuclear family.
What are the different laws and acts that have changed attitudes of family?
Adaption and children act 2002 - gave unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, the right to adopt.
Civil Partnership Act 2004- Introduced civil partnerships for same-sex couples.
Marriage (same sex couples) Act 2013- Introduced marriage for same-sex couples.
Change in divorce.
- Accord to the Office for National statistics, 22% of those who got married in the early 1970s were divorced within 15 years of marriage, but for those married in 1995 the figure stood at 33%.
changes in cohabitation.
- The proportion of people who live in a couple that are cohabiting is 24%.
Changes of marriage in 2021.
- In 2021, just under half the individuals in England and Wales were married.
- 65% of women aged 20-39 were in a category called “never married” in 2021
- average age of first marriage-
women - 30 years
men - 32 years
How does changes in the law affect divorce?
- Before 1857 people needed an act of parliament to obtain a divorce.
- 1923- the grounds for divorce were equalised between men and women.
- 2022- legalisation was created to make “no blame divorces”.
How have less stigmas lead to changing attitudes of divorce?
- in the past divorce and divorcees were stigmatised. Churches used to condemn divorces.
- Mitchell and Goody note that since the 1960s there has been a rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce, and it has been normalised.
How does secularisation lead to increase in divorces?
- secularisation = the process of society becoming less religious.
- Church attendance has rapidly declined as has membership of religious groups. This means people are less concerned about religious teaching or what religious institutions think.
Who agrees that higher expectations in marriage cause divorces?
Fletcher a Functionalist.
What did Fletcher say?
- Over the past couple of centuries there has been an increasing emphasis on romantic love and so marriage is increasingly seen not as a bonding contract but as a means as personal fulfilment and happiness.
- Importantly, rather than seeing this as leading to the decline in marriage he argues it has strengthened marriage. Most adults still re- marry, which shows marriage in an important institution in society.
How have changes in position of women affected divorce rates?
- Majority of divorces are filed by women and feminists argue that women are increasingly willing to file for divorce because they are more financially independent. They have greater equality in education and laws against discrimination in workplace.
What does Allan and Crowe argue?
- Marriage is less embedded in the economic system now.
- There are fewer family businesses and spouses are less economically dependent on each other. Women have their own sources of income.
