Parents and children

Question 1

What are the latest statistics in regards to childbearing?

Answer 1

• Nearly 50% of all children are now born outside of marriage, over 2x as many as in 1986
• Women are now having children later: between 1971 and 2012, their average age at the birth of their first child rose by 4 years to 28.1 years
• Women are having fewer children than in the 20th century
• More women are remaining childless

Question 2

What are the reasons for the changes in regards to childbearing?

Answer 2

• Decline in stigma and an increase in cohabitation

- The later age at which women are having children reflect that women now have more options

Question 3

What are the statistics in regards to lone-parent families?

Answer 3

• Lone parent families now make up 22% of all families
• Over 90% of these families are headed by the mother
• Up until the early 1990’s divorced women were the biggest group of lone mothers. From the early 1990’s: single women became the biggest group
• A child living with a lone parent is 2x as likely to be in poverty as a child living with 2 parents

Question 4

What are the reasons for the changes in regards to lone-parent families?

Answer 4

• Due to the increase in divorce

- Due to the increasing amounts of women never marrying having children

Question 5

Why are most lone-parent families headed by females?

Answer 5

1. There is a widespread belief that women are by nature suited to an ‘expressive’ role
2. The fact that divorce courts usually give custody to the mothers
3. The fact that men may be less willing than women to give up work to care for children

Question 6

What does the New Right view (Murray) think about lone parenthood in relation to the welfare state and poverty?

Answer 6

• The growth of lone-parent families results from an over-generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mothers and their children
• It has created a ‘perverse incentive’- it rewards irresponsible behaviour, such as having children without being able to care for them
• This also creates a ‘dependency culture’
• For Murray, the solution is to abolish welfare benefits, which would reduce the dependency culture

Question 7

How do critics of the New Right view Murray’s opinions?

Answer 7

1. A lack of affordable childcare prevents lone parents from working: 60% are unemployed
2. Most lone parents are women, who generally earn less than men
3. Failure of fathers to pay maintenance, especially if they have formed a second family that they have to support

Question 8

What are the statistics in regards to step families?

Answer 8

• Stepfamilies account for over 10% of all families with dependent children in Britain
• In 85% of stepfamilies, at least one child is from the woman’s previous relationship, while in 11% there is at least one child from the man’s previous relationship, and in 4% of these families there are children from both of the partners’ previous relationships
• Ferri and Smith: stepfamilies aren’t too different from first families, but they are more likely to suffer from poverty
• Allan and Crow: there may be divided loyalties

Question 9

What are the reasons for the patterns regarding stepfamilies?

Answer 9

• Divorce and separation increased rates
• More children for the mother as more children go with the mother when the parents divorce
• Higher poverty risk as the stepfather may have to support kids from a previous relationship
• Tensions can be put down to how there is a lack of clear social norms