Family Diversity- Childbearing and life course

Question 1

What is childbearing?

Answer 1

having children

Question 2

What is childrearing?

Answer 2

raising children

Question 3

What does Whiting say about childbearing?

Answer 3

The 2 child family remains the most common and has done for 70 years

Question 4

What does Hirsch say about childbearing?

Answer 4

Each child costs a couple nearly £154,000 by the time they are 18

Question 5

Key childbearing facts

Answer 5

• over half of all babies are born to mothers over 30
  (challenges the view that mothers are getting younger)
• more women are childless
• B & A families, more children, larger family
• LC are not more likely to have children, 3 or more, evenly spread among all socio-economic groups

Question 6

Why are more women choosing to remain childless?

Answer 6

• role of women in society has changed
• pursue careers over family
• contraception-choosing is they want to
• less societal pressure
• rise in individualism
• Craig- ‘the mother/partnership penalty’

Question 7

Why are more people choosing not to have children?

Answer 7

It is a big responsibility that holds back their career

Question 8

How does society view this decision?

Answer 8

They say that they aren’t ‘real women’ or against femininity
- viewed as ‘career thirsty’
Sympathy- can’t have children, not your choice

Question 9

What problems may this cause for relationships?

Answer 9

There are huge clashes in terms of what they want form relationships and their interests
Postmodernist- conflict

Question 10

What is the life course?

Answer 10

The life course is made up of several stages:
1- birth
2- early childhood
3- infancy
4- childhood
5- adolescence
6- young adulthood
7- adulthood
8- middle age
9- old age
10- death

Question 11

What does Heath say about the life cycle?

Answer 11

Young people are now less likely to follow the traditional route of living at home, leaving school, going into a job or higher education the settling down into married relationships in their own houses

Question 12

What are adult-kids?

Answer 12

Most likely to be male
- men and women are still living with their parents who are in their working years and cannot afford to buy or rent

Question 13

What are kippers?

Answer 13

‘kid’s in parent’s pocket’s’
- erode parents planned retirement savings as it is cheaper to stay at home

Question 14

What is the clipped wing generation?

Answer 14

Unable to ‘fly the family nest’
- young people consequently unable to establish a full adult identity due to financial issues etc

Question 15

What are shared households?

Answer 15

More common amongst young people
- living with peers, transitional living arrangements

Question 16

What are families of choice?

Answer 16

When people choose to live and form relationships with people they are close to rather than their family

Question 17

What doe postmodernists such as Stacey argue?

Answer 17

That family life is not about living in a static and ideal type of family structure
- a number of life events can change your experiences of family life and create family diversity

Question 18

What are young people less likely to follow traditional patterns in their family life cycle?

Answer 18

Increase in amount of shared households
- more likely to go onto further education
- shared living arrangements with peers
- more choice

Question 19

Why is family life fluid, diverse and unresolved?

Answer 19

Younger people are more likely to choose to live with who they are closer to rather than their relatives