Topic 3 - Structural changes in Family life and Diversity

Question 1

What is meant by the ‘cereal packet’ family?

Answer 1

It’s the stereotype often promoted in the mass media advertising.

Question 2

What percentage of unmarried couples are cohabitating?

Answer 2

25%.

Question 3

What percentage of cohabitations turn into marriages?

Answer 3

60%.

Question 4

Why do couples think cohabitation is a good idea?

Answer 4

It acts like a stepping stone to marriage.

Question 5

What ethnic groups have lower cohabitation rates and why?

Answer 5

Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis because of cultural norms.

Question 6

What percentage of marriages are likely to end in divorce?

Answer 6

45%.

Question 7

What percentage of marriages today are remarriages?

Answer 7

40%.

Question 8

What is serial monogamy?

Answer 8

A person has more than one marriage partner but one after the other.

Question 9

What are boomerang families and what are reasons for them?

Answer 9

A family in which children return to live with their parents because it’s often cheaper and more comfortable to live with parents.

Question 10

Give a statistic to support boomerang families.

Answer 10

In 2013, over 3.3 million adults in the UK aged between 20 and 34 were living with a parent or parents.

Question 11

What are couple house-holds and how prominent are they?

Answer 11

Two people that are together through marriage or cohabitation. 27% of all households are married people without children.

Question 12

How many children belong to lone-parent families?

Answer 12

1 in 5.

Question 13

What are reconstituted families?

Answer 13

Step families.

Question 14

What percentage of families with dependent children are reconstituted?

Answer 14

10%.

Question 15

What’s a beanpole extended family?

Answer 15

A narrow extended family containing 4 or 5 generations, it’s narrow because of more people choosing to have less children.

Question 16

What percentage of households have a single person as an occupant? (Creative singlehood)

Answer 16

25%.

Question 17

State 3 reasons for a rise in cohabitation but a decline in first marriages.

Answer 17

• Secularisation; we now live in a less religious society so many don’t see marriage as a religious duty.
• Sex and cohabitation outside marriage are now seen as socially acceptable.
• Fear of Divorce (McCrea); rise in divorce has led to a fear of it and this can lead to cohabitation as it has less legal binding ties.
• It’s expensive, the average wedding costs £20,000.

Question 18

Name 3 main reasons for divorce.

Answer 18

Any 3 from:
Legal changes
Decline in stigma
Secularisation
Rising expectations
Changing role of women
Lack of children

Question 19

Name 3 legal changes that could explain the rise in divorce.

Answer 19

Any 3 from:
1923 - Men and women both can now apply for a divorce.
1949 - The cost of divorce was lowered so working class couples could also afford to get a divorce.
1969 - The Divorce Reform Act; meant that you could get a divorce if you could show that the marriage had broken down beyond repair (irretrievable breakdown, abuse, empty shell marriages, etc.).
1984 - Family Proceedings Act; You could PROCEED to get a divorce after 1 year instead of the 3.

Question 20

What’s the New Right view on family diversity and society?

Answer 20

• They are against family diversity.
• They believe the traditional nuclear family is the best family.
• They see the nuclear family as natural and other families as dysfunctional, they blame lone parent families for juvenile delinquency.

Question 21

What’s the post modernist view on family diversity and society?

Answer 21

• They don’t make judgements on whether one is better than the other, they just say they’re different.
• Some argue diversity is good because it allows people to choose what kind of relationships work best for them.

Question 22

What’s the feminist view on family diversity and society?

Answer 22

• They say it allows women to liberate themselves from control of the traditional patriarchal family.
• Family diversity can reduce problems such as domestic violence.

Question 23

Name alternatives to the family.

Answer 23

1. Cared for children.
2. Communal living.
3. Friends as family.