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Sociology - Families and Households > Topic 2 - Changing Family Patterns > Flashcards

Topic 2 - Changing Family Patterns Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Marriage and divorce statistics

A
  • 40% of all marriages now end in divorce
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2
Q

Explanations for the increase in divorce

A
  1. Changes in the law
  2. Declining stigma and changing attitudes
  3. Secularisation
  4. Rising expectations of marriage/love
  5. Women’s increased financial independence
  6. Feminist explanations
  7. Modernity and individualisation
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3
Q

Divorce: Changes in the law

A
  • 1923 equalising the grounds of divorce
  • 1949 making divorce cheaper
  • 1971 widening the grounds for divorce
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4
Q

Other ways of ending an unhappy marriage

A
  1. Desertion
  2. Legal separation
  3. “Empty shell” marriage
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5
Q

Divorce: Decline in stigma and changing attitudes

A
  • Stigma = negative label, social disapproval, or shame
  • MITCHELL and GOODY aruge since the 1960s there has been a significant decrease in the stigma attached to divorce
  • Divorce has now become “normalised”
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6
Q

Divorce: Secularisation

A
  • Influence religion has in society
  • Religion losing its influence and society is becoming more secular (church figures declined)
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7
Q

Divorce: Rising expectations of marriage/love

A
  • FLETCHER suggests the high expectations people place on marriage is the reason for the increase in divorce = “ideology of romanitc love”
  • ALLAN and CROW people no longer see marriage as a binding contract but a relationship where people seel personal fulfillment so divorce if they dont find that
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8
Q

Divorce: Changing position of women

A
  • More women in paid work: 73% in 2021
  • Women still earn less than men but anti-discrimination and equal pay helped narrow pay gap
  • Girls achieve greater success in education
  • Welfare benefits means women no longer have to remain financially dependent
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9
Q

Divorce: Feminist explanation

A
  • Women suffer a dual burden of paid work and somestic labour = source of conflict between husbands and wives leading to a higher divorce rate
  • HOCHSCHILD argues home life for women is unfavourable compared to working life where they are treated more equally, at home there is conflict between man and women
  • RUSHTON women whi have a dual burden are more likely to divorce
  • BERNARD radical reminist: increase in divorce rate is a reaction to growing acceptance of feminist ideas and acknowledgement of the oppressive patriarchal marriage
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10
Q

Divorce: Modernity and individualisation

A
  • BECK and GIDDENS argue that in a moden society, traditional norms lose infleunce = more interested in pursuing our own self interests
  • Relationships become fragile
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11
Q

Theorist views on divorce: Feminists

A
  • Women breaking free from patriarchal oppression of the nuclear family
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11
Q

Theorist views on divorce: Postmodernists

A
  • Freedom to end a relationship that no longer meets their needs
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11
Q

Theorist views on divorce: Functionalists

A
  • Not a threat as re-marriage rates are also high = importance of marriage is still there
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12
Q

Theorist views on divorce: Interactionists

A
  • What divorce means to individuals
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12
Q

Theorist views on divorce: The Personal Life Perspective

A
  • Divorce caused problems like financial difficulty and lack of contact with children
  • However, SMART argues divorce has become normalised
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13
Q

Reasons for the changes in marriage

A
  1. Changing attitudes to marriage
  2. Secularisation
  3. Decline in stigma
  4. Changing position of women
  5. Fear of divorce
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13
Q

Marriage

A
  • 2019: 14.7% of marriages were re-marriages
  • Couples today less likely to marriage in church
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14
Q

Marriage: Changing attitudes to marriage

A
  • Less pressure to marry and more freedom for individuals to choose a relationship they want
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15
Q

Marriage: Secularisation

A
  • 2001 Census found young people with no religion were less likely to marry compared to those with religion
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16
Q

Marriage: Decline in stigma

A
  • Remaining single, having sex before marriage, having children outside of marriage, cohabitation is now widely accpeted
17
Q

Marriage: Changing position of women

A
  • Women now have greater financial independence they are less dependant on men and more freedom not to marry
18
Q

Marriage: Fear of divorce

A
  • As divorce rates rise some people may be put off from marrying
19
Q

Other reasons for patterns in marrying

A
  • Remarriages
  • Ages on marrying
20
Q

Cohabitation

A
  • Unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
  • This has increased
  • 69,000 same sex cohabiting couples
21
Q

Reasons for the increase in cohabitation

A
  • Decline in stigma
  • Young people more accpeting
  • Increased career opportunities for women
  • Secularisation
22
Q

Same-sex relationships

A
  • STONEWALL 71% of Gen Z identify as straight
23
Q

More social accpetance for same-sex relationships

A
  • Male homosexuality was discriminated against in 1967 for consenting adults over 21
  • 2002 right to adopt
  • 2004 civil right partnership act gave same-sex relationships similar rights to married couples in terms of inheritance, properties, and tenancies
  • 2014 same-sex couple able to marry
24
Q

Chosen families

A
  • WEEKS same-sex relationships are starting to resemble heterosexual relationships: increased social acceptance
  • WESTON “quasi-marriage”
  • ALLAN and CROW absense of legal frameworks means same-sex partners have had to negotiate their commitment and responsibilities more than marries couples
25
Q

One-person households

A
  • Fewer people living in couples
  • 2022: 13% of all households are one-person
  • 51% of all person households are over 65
26
Q

Reasons for the increase in one-person households

A
  • Increase in separation and divorce
  • People opting for a “creative singlehood”: deliberate choice to live alone
27
Q

Living Apart Together (LATs)

A
  • DUNCAN and PHILLIPS 1 in 10 adults are in a LAT
  • 20% see LATs as the ideal relationship
28
Q

Reasons for LATs

A
  • Choice and constraint e.g., cannot live together
  • Some choose to live apart e.g, keeping thier own home, previous troubled relationships
  • DUNCAN and PHILLIPS being a LAT is no longer seen as abnormal
29
Q

Childbearing

A
  • 2021 = 51% of babies born outside of marriage
  • Women are having children later (31 in 2021 compared to 26 in 1974)
30
Q

Reasons for the changes in childbearing

A
  • Decline in stigma around birth outside marriage and an increase in cohabitation
  • Women want to establish a career before motherhood
31
Q

Lone-parent families

A
  • 15% of UK familes are lone-parent
  • 84% headed by lone mothers
  • Child with a lone-parent twice as likely to live in poverty than a child without
32
Q

Reasons for the change in lone parent families

A
  • Increase in divorce and separation
  • Decline in stigma
  • Single by choice = RENVOIZE found professional women were able to support their child without the father
  • CASHMORE some working class women chose to live alone on benefits due to domestic violence
33
Q

Why lone-parent families are often headed by the mother

A
  • Expressive role = socialisation
  • Men may be less willing to give up work for a child
34
Q

New Right view on lone parent families

A
  • Problematic for society
  • Produce delinquent boys that lack a male role model
  • Perverse incentive = non-workers get benefits, workers get taxed
  • Dependancy culture
  • Rely on welfare state = wish to abolish this
35
Q

A03 Welfare benefits

A
  • Welfare benefits are not generous and lone parent families are far more likely to be in poverty
  • Lack of affordable childcare means parents can’t work = 31% unemployed
  • Most lone parents who are women generally earn less than men
  • Failure of maintenance pay from fathers especially if they have a second family to support
36
Q

What are step families often referred to

A
  • Reconstituted families
37
Q

Step families

A
  • 10% of all families in Britain
  • FERRI and SMITH step families are similar to first families (positive), but are at greater risk of poverty
  • ALLAN and CROW found stepfamilies face problems of divided loyalty = tension
  • McCARTHY ET AL = diversity in step families
38
Q

Reasons for the change in step families

A
  • Increase in divorce and separation
  • More children from womans side as more likely to stay with the mother
  • Greater risk of poverty = supporting other children
  • Tensions due to lack of social norms
39
Q

Ethnic differences in family patterns - Black families

A
  • Higher proportion of lone-parent families
  • 24% of families with this ethnic background were lone parent (2011) compared with only 9% of Asian families
  • Links to Black slavery = unemployment and discrimination amongst Black males = cannot provide for their family = conflict and breakdown
  • Children stayed with the mother
40
Q

A03 Ethnic differences in family patterns - Black families

A
  • MIRZA argues the high rate of lone parent families is not a result of disorganisation but reflects the independance that is placed on black women
  • REYNOLDS says the statistics are misleading as what appear to be lone parent families are often LATs
41
Q

Ethnic differences in family patterns - Asian families

A
  • Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to be bigger than those of other ethnic groups
  • Larger households reflect the close family dynamic but there are also practical considerations, such as the need for assistance when migrating to Britain
  • BALLARD extended family offered important role for migrants in the 1950s and 1960s with housing, financial, and childcare
  • More likely to live in extended family units
42
Q

The extended family today

A
  • WILLMOTT “dispersed extended family” = do not live together but still remain frequently in contact
  • Provided emotional, financial, and childcare support
  • Middle class families = financial help from father to son
  • Working class families = domestic help from mothers to daughters and had more contact
43
Q

Beanpole family

A
  • BRANNEN = “long and thin” extended family
  • Extended vertically = grandparents, parents, and children
  • Not extended horizontally = does not include uncles, aunties, cousins etc
    May be the result of 2 demographic changes
  • Increased life expectancy
  • Smaller family sizes
44
Q

Obligations to relatives

A
  • FINCH and MASON 90% of people have given or received financial help and around 50% helped care for a sick relative
    CHEAL found gender patterns in terms of obligations:
  • Daughter or daughter-in-law preferred when care for an elderly woman is needed
  • Sons are rarely chosen to help care
  • Daughters are rarely chosen to help financially

Sociology - Families and Households (7 decks)

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