Section b Flashcards
Nuclear family
Usually consists of two heterosexual parents who are married plus children that share a comin residence , rhis is seen by functionalists and new right that this is the ideal type of family and is also the most common
Family definition - murdock
Murdock describes that the family is a social group thats characterised by common residence , economic co operation and also residency that includes adults of both sexes rhat have a socially approved sexual relationship that have one or more children
Trends in marriage
In 2009, marriage was at its all time low, more than half of people were not married in 2012, compared fo 1972 which 68 percent of people were
The age to get married had also dramtically increased for both men and women (30 for women, 32 for men).
Allan and Crow- mentions that people will not stay if they dont get emotional fullfillment, in the past women didnt have the financial independence to seperate from their spouses, but due to economic freedom it has been granted.
Marriage is now based on confluent love - refers to ove that is based on trust, intimacy between the two partners
Reasons why marriage is declined
Fear of divorce
Cohabiting before marriage
Cost of weddings
Changing attitudes
Government stopping “sham marriages”
Trends in divorce
The divorce rate significantly rose throughout the last half of the 20th century
40 percent of marriages = divorce
Reasons for rise in divorce:
Less social stigma
Secularisation
1969 Divorce Reform Divorce Act
Higher expectations of marriage
High value attached to marriage
While divorce might rise higher there may be a misconception that its because marriage is not valued
Ronald Fletcher argues other wise
States the reason for divorce is because theres a higher demand and epectation from marriage due to media shown images or etc
Allan crow - people expect a great deal of emotional fullfiment from a relationship, its based on confluent love ( building of trust and intimacy between two partners) than romantic love - to stay for life after falling for each other.
Confluent love is conditional and only lasts as long as it meets borhcpeoples needs.
Women in the past werent also able to seperate from partners due to financial dependency, the more economic freedom the more marriage is seen as a “choice” than an “end goal”
Ageing population
Percentage of older people in Uk society has been on a considerable rise this is due to the baby boomer generation , that had a spike of births after WW2, causing it to be one of the largest generations.
Mortality rates also decrease as people start to naturally live much more longer
Beanpole families
Multigenerational families with a few family members in each generation
Replaces family tree
This is due to a greater life expectancy
