Topic 3: Changing Family Patterns

Question 1

What are the reasons for the increase in cohabitation?

Answer 1

• Decline in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
• Young people are more likely to accept cohabitation
• Increased career opportunities for women
• Secularisation

Question 2

What does Andre Bejin say about trial marriages?

Answer 2

• Argues that cohabitation among young people represents a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationships than convential patriarchal marriage

Question 3

What does Shelton and John say about trial marriages?

Answer 3

• Found that women who cohabit do less housework than their married counterparts

Question 4

What does Jefferey Weeks say about chosen families?

Answer 4

• Argues that increased social acceptance may explain a trend towards same sex cohabitation and stable relationships that resemble those found among heterosexuals
• Weeks sees gay people as as creating families based on the idea of ‘friendship and kinship’ where friendships become a type of kinship network - ‘chosen families’: they offer the same security and stability as heterosexual couples.

Question 5

What does Kath Weston say about chosen families?

Answer 5

• Describes same-sex cohabitation as ‘quasi marriage’ and notes that many gay couples are now deciding to cohabit as stable partners.
• She contrasts this with the stereotypical gay lifestyle of the 70’s which largely rejected monogamy and family life in favour of casual relationships.

Question 6

What does Allan and Crow say about chosen families?

Answer 6

• The illegal framework surrounding same sex relationships and civil partnerships has meant that same sex couples have had to negotiate their committments and responsibilities more than married couples
• Potentially making same sex couples more flexible and less stable than heterosexual couples

Question 7

What does Einasdottir say about chosen families?

Answer 7

• Notes that while many same sex ouples welcome the opportunity to have their partnerships legally recognised, others fear that it may limit flexibility and negotiability of relationships.
• She notes that they dont wish to adopt the ‘heterosexual norms’ and would rather their relationships be different.

Question 8

What are the trends in one person households?

Answer 8

• Number of people living alone in the UK increased by 16.1% between 1997 - 2017

Question 9

Reasons for changes in the trends of one person households

Answer 9

• Increase in separation and divorce
• Proportion of sing adults has risen by half since 1971 - many living alone
• A growing number of people are opting for ‘creatve singlehood’ - the deliberate chance to live alone.
• Widowed

Question 10

What does Simon Duncan and Miranda Philips say about living apart together?

Answer 10

• Research from British Social Attitudes found that 1 in 10 adults are living alone together - in a significant relationship but not married or cohabiting
• Found that the same couples who live apart together do so because they could not afford to live together, however a minority actively decided to live apart
• They concluded that while ‘LAT’ is no longer seen as abnormal, it probably does not amount to a rejection of more traditional relationships.