Topic 5 : Changing Family Patterns

Question 1

Statistics about the decline of marriage

When was the lowest marriage rate
Changes in average age for marriage

Answer 1

Lowest marriage rate ever in 2013

Marriage is still popular - people are just getting married later

2013: average age at marriage for men was 33 and for women 31
1973: average age at marriage for men was 25 and for women 23

Question 2

Why has the marriage rate declined?

Answer 2

1. Social change and changing attitudes
2. Secularisation
3. Gender roles and feminist perspectives on marriage rates

Question 3

Reason 1 for declining marriage rates: Social change and changing attitudes

Answer 3

Brenda Almond - family is fragmenting
- less of a focus on children and more of a focus on individuals
- leads to people staying single / cohabiting
- not good for society

Giddens - people seeking pure relationship
- marriages can be ended through divorce, or people just wont get married
- leads to LATs / cohabitation
- not harmful for society - instead people now have greater freedom

(AO2)
British Social Attitudes Survey
= between 1989-2012, people who agreed that people who want children should get married fell from 74% to 42%

Question 4

Reason 2: secularisation

Answer 4

Generally, religions are important in sanctifying marriage, but religious beliefs are declining

British Social Attitudes Survey = youth are less attached to religion, explaining why marriage is declining

2021 census: 37% of people declared they had no religion

Question 5

Reason 3: Gender roles and feminist perspectives on marriage rates

Answer 5

Ruspini = changing position of women means marriage rates are declining
- contraception = greater control
- women’s liberation movement 1960s-70s = independence
- focus on education and careers
- no longer felt obliged to get married in order to have kids, or before they could pursue a career -> delay marriage / not get married at all
- women do less housework in cohabiting couples (incentive to not get married)

Question 6

Gender roles and feminist perspectives on marriage rates - analysis - who says yay who says nay

Answer 6

Feminists see these as positive changes as they offer women more choices and freedom from patriarchal institution of marriage

New Right see these changes as undermining marriage
Morgan blames the welfare system for the fall in marriage rates
= makes it financially possible for women to become lone parents
= promotes perverse incentives for mothers to live on benefits

Question 7

Other reasons for the decline of marriage

Answer 7

Reduced functions of the family - marriage not seen as a practical necessity anymore as other institutions carry out the family’s functions

Risk society (beck)

Question 8

Remarriage and the growth of reconstituted families

Answer 8

1/3 of marriages now involve a remarriage

More divorced men remarry than divorced women - women fed up with marriage (dual burden and triple shift?)

ONS - 500,000 stepfamilies with dependent children in England and wales

1 in 10 dependent children live in a stepfamily in 2011

Question 9

Morgans view on cohabitation

Answer 9

Part of a worrying trend in which marriage is going out of fashion and the family is in serious decline

Question 10

Chandler’s view on cohabitation

Answer 10

More people cohabit as a long term alternative to marriage - reflected in the increasing proportion of children born out of marriage as partners no longer feel pressure to marry to legitimise a pregnancy

Question 11

Evidence of cohabitation

Answer 11

ONS 2013 - 2.9m cohabiting couples

Question 12

Why are more people cohabiting?

Answer 12

Women are better off - less need for financial security of marriage

Secularisation

Question 13

What does Robert Chester say about cohabitation

Answer 13

Cohabitation acts as a trial marriage

Question 14

What does Andre bejin say about cohabitation

Answer 14

It’s a way of negotiating more equal relationships where both partners retain some independence

Question 15

What is an alternative to marriage and cohabitation

Answer 15

LATs (Living Apart Together)

Where couples maintain their relationship despite living in separate places

LATs can be a solution to the modern day problem of needing independence but still wanting a meaningful relationship - this could be a genuine threat to traditional families and marriage

LATs can also be a necessity (working in different cities) - this isn’t a threat to the popularity of marriage or the stability of families

Question 16

Why are LATs on the rise?

Answer 16

• divorce and separation have increased - LATs have become an acceptable way of dealing from previous failed relationships
• growing individualisation and choice - may be more prone to seek out new partners
• modern technology - close contact can be maintained

Duncan and Phillips 2008 - 1 in 10 people are in LATs

Question 17

Why are people choosing LATs over marriage or cohabitation ?

Answer 17

1. Responsibility and care
   - the couple may have existing responsibilities for other people - don’t want a new relationship to get in the way of this
2. Practical reasons
   - both May work in different places - LATs avoid conflict for them
3. Risk
   - partners don’t want to repeat the same mistake twice
   - mutual satisfaction
   - focus on themselves

Question 18

Changes in childbearing

Answer 18

Families getting smaller / births dropping / women having children later

Why?
= changing role of women
= expensive to have children - £154,000 to raise a child to age 18
= Beck - growing individualisation

Question 19

Divorce rates since 1960s

Answer 19

1961 - 27,000
1994 - 180,000
2012 - 130,000

Question 20

Alternatives to divorce:

Answer 20

Desertion
Legal separation
Empty shell marriage - the couple continue to live under the same roof but remain married in name only

Since divorce has become more available these solutions have become less popular

Question 21

Why has the divorce rate increased?

Answer 21

1. The value of marriage has increased
2. Conflict between spouses - women’s increased financial independence
3. Rise of feminism
4. Freedom and choice also means more conflict
5. Ease of divorce - stigma has declined and divorce legislation has meant it’s easier to obtain

Question 22

Increased divorce rate: the value of marriage

Answer 22

Fletcher: (optimistic)
Higher expectations make couples less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage

Links to romantic love (giddens)

Pre industrial society - people married for economic reasons - people were less likely to have high expectations of marriage so less divorce

Question 23

Criticisms of the value of marriage as a reason for the increased divorce rate

Answer 23

Feminists say this is way too rosy a view

• they argue that the oppression of women within the family is the main cause of marital conflict and divorce, but functionalists ignore this
• fail to acknowledge why it’s mainly women rather than men who seek divorce

Question 24

Increased divorce rate: conflict between spouses (women’s financial increased independence)

Answer 24

Allen and Crow

• spouses not so financially interdependent
  = this means that they do not have to tolerate each other in the absence of love - more willing to seek divorce

Anti discrimination laws have helped narrow the pay gap
Girls’ greater success in education help them to pursue different careers
Welfare benefits means women no longer have to remain financially dependent on their husbands (NR)

Feminists - women earning has created a new source of conflict between couples and this is leading to more divorce

Question 25

Increased divorce rate: rise of feminism

Answer 25

Although there has been some reform in the workplace and education, change in the family home has been slower. Marriage remains patriarchal with men benefitting from the triple shift

Hochschild:
-At work, women feel valued and at home frustrated due to the pressures of housework and men’s resistance to helping
-As more women work, this leaves less time for the emotional work needed to address problems - contributes to divorce

Sigle-Rushton:
-Working mothers are more likely to petition for divorce than women in relationships with a traditional division of labour

Barnard:
-The evidence that most divorce petitions come from women shows their acceptance of feminist ideas and women becoming more confident in rejecting patriarchal oppression

Question 26

Increase in the divorce rate: Modernity and individualisation

Answer 26

Beck and Giddens - traditional norms of marriage lose their meaning

As a result each individual becomes free to pursue their own self interest
= individualisation thesis

Giddens :
Relationships have become fragile - people seek a pure relationship

Question 27

Increase in divorce: ease of divorce and the declined stigma

Answer 27

2013 survey by YouGov
- 18-24 yr olds less likely to say that divorce was taboo than 25-54 yr olds = liberal attitudes of younger generation

Secularisation:
Religious institutions losing influence on society
2001 census - 47% of those with no religion were cohabiting compared to 34% of Christians

Question 28

Increase in divorce: legislation

Answer 28

1969 - divorce reform act
This made the breakdown of marriage the sole ground for divorce

1966 - family law act encourages couples to seek mediation but allows divorce after a period of reflection

Question 29

AO3 analysis - perspectives on divorce

Answer 29

The new right:
See high divorce as undesirable as it undermines the traditional nuclear family. Creates an underclass of welfare dependent female lone parents and leaves boys without the male role model they need

Feminist:
See high divorce rate as desirable as it shows women breaking free of the oppression of patriarchy

Postmodernists:
View high divorce rate as giving individuals the freedom to choose to end a relationship when it no longer meets their needs. They see it as a cause of greater family diversity

Functionalists:
High divorce rate does not prove that marriage is under threat. It is a result of high expectations of marriage. High rate of re-marriage shows people’s commitment to the idea of marriage

Question 30

The ‘cereal packet’ family

Answer 30

Functionalist concept:
Idealised version of the family is the nuclear family of mother, father and two children

Ignores the fact that families have changed in structure and diversity

Question 31

Evidence to show that the cereal packet family does not represent the arrangement in which most people in Britain live

Answer 31

2013:

29% of HH consisted of one person living alone
2/3 of HH had no dependent children
11% of HH were lone parent

Question 32

Family and household diversity in Britain

Answer 32

Rapoports argue that diversity is of central importance in understanding family life

We have moved away from the NF as the dominant family type

British families have adapted to a pluralistic society - where cultures and lifestyles are more diverse - led to more freedom of choice with regards to family types

Rapoports see diversity as a positive response to people’s different needs, and not as abnormal

Question 33

Rapoports - 5 types of family diversity

Answer 33

1. Organisational diversity - variations in family structure and differences in the division of labour
2. Cultural diversity - different cultural, religious and ethnic groups have different family structures
3. Social class diversity - different classes = differences in family structure, roles and child-rearing practices
4. Life-stage diversity - individuals are likely to experience living in many types of family types throughout their life (link to haraven)
5. Cohort diversity - older and younger generations have different attitudes and experiences (eg rising house prices means it’s harder for young people to buy a house)

Question 34

Types of organisational diversity

Answer 34

Gay and lesbian HH

Friends living together

LATs

Beanpole families

Question 35

3 statistical patterns that show a long term trend towards family diversity

Answer 35

1996 - 2016

Cohabitation
1996 - 9.3%
2016 - 17.1%

Lone parent family
1996 - 14.5%
2016 - 15.2%

Civil partner family
1996 - 0%
2016 - 0.2%

Question 36

AO3 analysis - why is there increased diversity? (Diff perspectives)

Answer 36

New Right: blame the over-generous self state

Liberal feminists: thank social policy and welcome the changes

Postmodernists: family has lost its exclusivity = people don’t expect to get married anymore (stigma attached to raising children in a non-NF has disappeared, increased choice - patchwork family -> greater individualisation has led to this as we have more freedom and fluidity)

Question 37

What does Robert Chester say?

Answer 37

Extent of increasing family diversity has been exaggerated

Recognises that there has been some increased family diversity

However, (unlike NR) doesn’t see it in a negative light

Argues the only important change is a move from the dominance of the traditional NF to the neo-conventional family

Question 38

Who came up with the beanpole family

Answer 38

Brannen

Family has fewer siblings - leads to fewer cousins
Ageing population means increase in generations

(Long and thin)

Question 39

Sexuality, chosen families and diversity

Answer 39

Growth of LGBT families:
2005-2015 = 61,500 civil partnerships in the UK

Changing Attitudes of society:
Gay and lesbian couples are more egalitarian
Weeks et al = gay men and lesbians look upon their households as being CHOSEN FAMILIES (families by choice not blood) smart
More choice = more diversity = more happiness for individuals

Roseneil = ‘heteronorm’ is breaking down
The has resulted because of the rise in divorce, increase in births outside of marriage and more social changes = more diversity

Question 40

An increase in lone parenthood - stats

Answer 40

The % of lone parent families has tripled in the UK since 1971

Question 41

Causes of more lone parent families

Answer 41

1. Greater economic independence of women
   - more job opportunities
   - more welfare support
2. Changing social attitudes
   - less social stigma attached to lone parenthood
   - link to secularisation
3. Improved contraception
   - wider availability of contraception = men may feel less responsibility to marry and support women if they become unintentionally pregnant
4. Increase in divorce
   - increase in divorces = puts people off getting married again?
   - can link to economic independence = women now confident of undertaking the instrumental and express role

Question 42

The view that lone parenthood is an issue

Answer 42

NR blames welfare state for the growth of lone parenthood - formed an underclass

Boys have no father figure - inadequate socialisation = turn to crime

Moral panics about lone parenthood
= gov responded by introducing Child Support Agency

McLanahan and Booth - children of lone parents suffer more from psychological problems and experience less social success than other children

Question 43

Is the NR view on lone parenthood correct?

Answer 43

Dermott and Pomati found:

1. Lone parents are more likely to sit and eat a meal with their children everyday than coupled parents
2. Lone parents are more likely to cut down on personal spending than coupled parents

They found that there is no significant difference in the extent to which lone and couple parents engage in ‘good’ parenting

Question 44

Single person HH

Answer 44

May be formed due to divorce, break up of cohabiting couples or death of a partner
Or people may choose to live alone

Between 1972-2016 they rose from 18% to 28.4% (ONS 2016)

Why has there been an increase?
1. Ageing population = older people living longer - inevitable that they’ll live alone at some point
2. Younger people moving out more quickly - more individualisation (beck)
3. Women’s increased financial independence - no more stigma attached

Question 45

Statistical evidence for different HH types in different ethnic groups

Answer 45

Labour Force Survey (2009)

1. 11% of Pakistani HH consisted of lone parent families, compared with 28% Black Caribbean
2. British Asians more likely to live in extended families and Black Caribbeans more likely to live in lone parent families

Question 46

Berthoud - family diversity and ethnicity

Answer 46

1. British South Asian
   - traditional family life
   - high rates of marriage
   - low divorce rates
   - parents tend to move in with children
2. White British
   - lower marriage rates and smaller family sizes
   - less likely to live with parents once married
   - quite high rates of divorce
3. British Caribbean
   - much lower rates of marriage
   - high rates of lone parenthood (matrifocal HH)

Question 47

South Asian families

Answer 47

Ballard:
Extended families are more common in south Asian families
Based on old fashioned values - commitment to marriage, family loyalty

3/4 of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are married by age 25 compared to 50% of white women

Divorce rates are low because of social disapproval

AO3:
Changing attitudes in younger generations is leading to conflict in families
Qureshi et al - British Pakistani families were becoming more accepting of divorce

Question 48

Caribbean families

Answer 48

Berthoud:
Sees family life in Caribbean community as based on modern individualism
= emphasises choices and independence rather than duty and tradition

Marriage is an option not an obligation

Low rates of marriage, high rates of lone parenthood

Mixed partnerships are common

High level of lone parenthood for Caribbean women
= due to cultural tradition and high rates of black male unemployment (AO3 for this: Caribbean community has Christian marriage which is more religious and economically successful)