Topic 4: Family DIversity

Question 1

How many lone-parent families were there in 1961 vs 2012?

Answer 1

1961 - 2% of all UK households

2012 - 25%

Question 2

What percentage of lone-parent households were headed by women in 2012?

Answer 2

2012: 91% of one-parent families were headed by women.

49% had had their children when married.

Question 3

What do Kiernan and Holmes (2010) say about one-parent families?

Answer 3

They talk about ethnic variation:
Lone parent families are most common in black and mixed-race families - usually headed by the mother.
Particularly in deprived urban areas.

Question 4

What does Haskey (2002) identify?

Answer 4

A fast-growing number of middle age, middle class women electing to have children but bringing them up alone.

Question 5

Why is the New Right targeted as being classist?

Answer 5

They ignore the trend identified by Haskey and claim that single mothers are unemployed, less educated and attracted by the “perverse incentive” of welfare benefits..

Question 6

Why is there some merit in the New Right’s view of single mothers?

Answer 6

2013 statistics show that 650,000 single mothers were unemployed and therefore dependent on the state for financial support.

Question 7

What do New Right thinkers call lone-parent families?

Answer 7

It’s second rate or imperfect.

Question 8

What causes lone-parent families, according to the New Right?

Answer 8

Selfishness and individualisation of the parents - put themselves ahead of the children or family.

Question 9

What do New Right sociologists claim happens to kids without a father figure?

Answer 9

They become emotionally disturbed.
Charles Murray:
Boys without father figures become jobless and dependent on crime or welfare - this creates an “underclass”.

Question 10

What did Flouri and Buchanan (2002) find?

Answer 10

They studied 17,000 children from separated families.
Children who had a good relationship with their father did better at school.
If conflict between parents continued after separation, the child’s mental health suffered greatly.

Question 11

What did the ‘Fractured Families’ Report (2013) by the Centre for Social Justice find about matrifocal lone parent families?

Answer 11

Kids with a lone mother…

• Grew up in poorer housing.
• Had more depressive symptoms.
• Had behavioural problems.
• Were sexually active at a younger age - teen pregnancy more common.
• Do worse at school.

Question 12

How did Mooney et al (2009) criticise the New Right?

Answer 12

Conflicting couples are worse for a child’s well being than lone parents.
Separation is better than conflict.

Question 13

What, in the New Right perspective, do Ford and Millar (1998) criticise?

Answer 13

The idea of this “perverse incentive” is flawed:

• People who depend on welfare face hardship and poverty.
• Mothers usually spend less on themselves to protect their kids.

Question 14

How do feminists critique the New Right about familial ideology?

Answer 14

They believe familial ideology discriminates:
It leads to negative labelling of one-parent families and this can result in self-fulfilling prophecies amongst children.
Eg, looked down upon by authorities and are put in worse accommodation.

Question 15

Are reconstituted families increasing in number or decreasing?

Answer 15

Reconstituted families are a fast-growing family type.

Question 16

What did the ONS (2013) find in regards to reconstituted families?

Answer 16

8% of families in England and Wales were step-families.

Question 17

Challenges posed by reconstituted families - De’Ath and Slater (1992):
Why might there be strained relations?

Answer 17

There is often conflict between the child and the adult:

- Step parent may detest the kid as they are a symbol of a past relationship.

Question 18

Challenges posed by reconstituted families - De’Ath and Slater (1992):
How is the child pulled in two directions?

Answer 18

If they get along with their step-parent, they may feel disloyal.
Martin (2013):
A kind stepmother becomes a target for resentment as the child sees them as the reason for the sadness in their real mother’s life.

Question 19

Challenges posed by reconstituted families - De’Ath and Slater (1992):
What might occur if the step parent has a child with the biological parent?

Answer 19

Often envy and conflict between the children.

Question 20

Singlehood:

How many people lived alone in 2013?

Answer 20

13% of the population lived alone (7.7 million) - this is 4 times higher than 40 years ago.

Question 21

Singlehood:

Singlehood is the _______ category of household: __% of all households (this is ______ the amount of nuclear families).

Answer 21

Singlehood is the biggest category of household: 30% of all households (this is double the amount of nuclear families).

Question 22

Singlehood:

What percentage of over 60s living alone are women?

Answer 22

68%

There are 1.7 million widows - this is 3x higher than widowers.

Question 23

Singlehood:

Why is it more popular in younger age groups?

Answer 23

• It is temporary - people are waiting longer to get married.
• Younger people are more interested in focussing on careers.
• Female financial independence - they are not needing to get married to be financially stable.
• Majority of divorces are in the 25-29 age bracket.

Question 24

Singlehood:

What are some stats demonstrating the ethnic variations?

Answer 24

% of people living alone in 2011:
23% of African-Caribbeans
16% of whites
7% of British Indians
4% of British Pakistanis

Question 25

Singlehood:

Why are there ethnic variations?

Answer 25

There are different religious and cultural expectations.

Eg, arranged marriages, multigenerational households etc.

Question 26

Define the Life Course

Answer 26

The ways in which lives evolve and changes as people experience rites of passage (personal events) - marriage, divorce, death etc.

Question 27

The Life Course:

What does Hareven (2000) say?

Answer 27

The Life Course is made up of several stages: birth, early childhood, infancy, childhood etc.
The Life Course may affect the structure and dynamics of family life.

Question 28

The Life Course:

What do postmodernists, like Stacey, say?

Answer 28

Family life is not static and unchanging - it is in a continual state of flux and change.
Families aren’t concrete and there is no such thing as a perfect family - relationships and dynamic between members are unique to that group of people.

Question 29

The Life Course:

Why do Pahl and Spencer (2001) argue that the concept of ‘family’ is no longer useful?

Answer 29

Because it doesn’t describe personal relationships in the 21st century.
People no longer feel they have to maintain relationships with kin out of obligations - people subscribe to ‘personal communities’.

Question 30

The Life Course:

What is a ‘personal community’?

Answer 30

These are made up of kin and fictive kin who are valued for their friendship and social support.

Question 31

The Life Course:

What do Weeks et al (2001) suggest about the concept of family in non-heterosexual communities?

Answer 31

For them, family denotes something broader.
It often refers to kin-like networks of relationships mainly based on friendships - culturally and symbolically important as people who participate gain a sense of belonging.