Topic 5 Changing family patterns

Question 1

Divorce

What are the 3 changing patterns of divorce?

Answer 1

1. Since the 1960s, divorce has increased
2. 65% of divorce applications come from women
3. Most common reason for a woman to be granted divorce = unreasonable behaviour of her husband

Question 2

What are the 7 Reasons for the increase in divorce?

Answer 2

1. Changes in laws
2. declining stigma and changing attitudes
3. secularisation
4. rising expectations of marriage
5. woman’s increased financial independence
6. feminist explanation
7. modernity and individualism

Question 3

Why has changes in laws increased divorce?

Answer 3

1. Equalising and widening the grounds for divorce
2. Making divorce cheaper – introduction of legal aid for divorce cases
   This led to the following:
   More divorce applications from women and a doublingdivorce rate

Question 4

Mitchell and Goody

What is the declining stigma and changing attitudes doing that lead to divorce?

Answer 4

1. Stigma = negative label, social disapproval or shame
2. Previously, divorce was stigmatised in society
3. Mitchell and Goody, 1997 = since the 1960s there has been a decline in the attached stigma to divorce
4. Divorce is more common – it becomes more normalised

Question 5

How has secularisation effected an increase in divorce?

Answer 5

1. Secularisation = decline in the influence of religion in society
2. The religious opposition to divorce holds less weight
3. People are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions
4. Many churches have softened theirviews on divorce

Question 6

Fletcher, Allan and Crow

Rising expection in marriage effecting the increase in divorce

Answer 6

1. Fletcher, 1966 = people are now placing high expectations on marriage and this is causing a rise in divorce rates
2. In the past, families wereinvolvedin marriages and it was an economically motivated decision. There were lower expectations of marriage, less likely to be dissatisfied with the absence of intimacy.
3. People are now less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
   The idea that marriage should be based on love has become dominant – couples divorce if they don’t seek this fulfilment.
4. Allan and Crow, 2001 =‘Love, personal commitment and intrinsic satisfaction are now seen as the cornerstones of marriage. The absence of these feelings is itself justification forending the relationship.’

Question 7

How has a woman’s increased financial independence effected an increase in marriage?

Answer 7

1. Women are in better financial positions and are therefore less dependent on their husbands
2. They are more open to ending an unsatisfactory marriage
3. Women can support themselves in the event of a divorce
4. Women have theirown separate source of income

Question 8

hochschild

What is the feminist explanation for an increase in divorce?

Answer 8

1. The dual burden women are under has created a source of conflict between couples and this is leading to high divorce rates
2. Change for women in the private sphere has been less significant than in wider society. Marriage is patriarchal
3. Hochschild 1997 = women feel less valued at home.Women feel frustrated at men’s resistance to complete housework
4. This leads to high divorce rates

Question 9

Beck and Giddens

How has modernity and individualism effected an increase in divorce?

Answer 9

Beck and Giddens, 1992:
Traditional norms have lost influence – individuals are pursuing their own self-interests (individualisation thesis)
Relationships become more fragile
Search for a ‘pure relationship’ = exists to solely fulfil individual needs.
This leads to higher divorce rates
Individualism is encouraged in modern society

Question 10

What is the meaning of a high divorce rate according to Functionalists and New Right?

Answer 10

Functionalist
- High divorce rates shows that people have higher expectations of what they want from marriage
- High rate of re-marriage shows that people are still committed to the idea of being married

New Right
- Divorce is undesirable as it threatens the stability of society
- Divorce creates an increase in welfare-dependent female lone parents who are a burden on the state

Question 11

What is meant by a high divorce rate according to feminists and interactionists?

Answer 11

Feminists
- Divorce is seen as desirable because it shows that women are breaking free from patriarchal oppression in the family

Interactionalists
Divorce has a different meaning to each different individual – cannot generalise

Question 12

What is meant by a high divorce rate according to postmodernists and personal life perspective?

Answer 12

postmodernists
High divorce rates show that individuals have freedom of choice to end their relationships when their needs are not being fulfilled

personal life perspective
- Divorce is a transition into another life course
- It can bring some issues, but it is a change that families can adapt to

Question 13

What are the 5 reaons for changing patterns of marriage?

Answer 13

1. changed attitudes
2. secularisation
3. declining stigma to alternatives
4. changing position of women
5. fear of divorce

Question 14

Reasons for changing patterns of marriage

1. changing attitudes
2. secularisation
3. declining stigma to alternatives
4. changing postion of women
5. fear of divorce

Answer 14

1. less societal pressure to get married. There is more emphasis on the quality of the relationship than its legal status
2. influence of religion declines and so does the importance of marriage. People feel freer to not be married
3. more acceptable to cohabit, remain single and have children outside of marriage
4. women are less economically dependent on men. Gives them more freedom to not get married
5. = some may be put off marriage because of high divorce rates

Question 15

remarriages , later in life , church weddings

3 Additional changing patterns of marriage

Answer 15

• Remarriages are increasing because there are more divorces
• People are marrying at a later age because people are spending more time in education and establishing their careers
  Couples also choose to cohabit for a while before they marry
• Church weddings are decreasing due to secularisation and because churches also refuse to marry divorcees

Question 16

What does cohabitiation mean?
2 trends and stats.

Answer 16

**Cohabitation **= an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
This is increasing:
2. 2.9 million cohabiting heterosexual couples
3. 69,000 cohabiting same sex couples

Question 17

4 reasons for the increase in cohabitation

Answer 17

1. Declining stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
2. Young people are more accepting of cohabitation
3. Increased career options for women mean they don’t need the financial security of marriage
4. Secularisation

Question 18

2 views of cohabitation

Answer 18

1. Some see cohabitation as a permenant alternative to marriage
2. Others see cohabitation as a step towards getting married – seen as a trial marriage period

Question 19

Same-sex relationships

Answer 19

• There is increased social acceptance of these relationships
• Social policy now treats all couples more equally
• 2014 – same sex couples have been able to marry

Question 20

weeks, weston

chosen families

Answer 20

• Weeks, 1999 = homosexual people create families based on the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’. These are chosen families and provide the same security as heterosexual families
• Weston, 1992 = many gay couples are cohabiting as stable partners
• The impact of legal acceptance has meant that commitment is no longer negotiated and relationships are more stable

Question 21

1 stat about one person households

2 reasons for these changes

Answer 21

2. 40% of all one person households are over 65
3. Increased divorce has led to an increase in one person households, especially for men
4. Decline in marriage = more people are single and are choosing to live alone. ‘Creative singlehood’

Question 22

parents and children

childbearing

Carrying and having the child

Answer 22

1. Half of all children are now born outside marriage
2. Women are having children later = average age in 2021 was 28 years old
3. Women are having fewer children
4. More women are remaining childless

Question 23

reasons for childbearing

Answer 23

1. There is a decline in stigma
2. Increase in cohabitation
3. Women now have more options to their lives than just motherhood. Their focus has shifted.

Question 24

parents and children

Lone parent families

Answer 24

Lone parent families make up 22% of all families with children
* Over 90% of these are headed by lone mothers
* Divorced lone mothers used to be the main group of lone mothers, but now it is single lone mothers
* A child living with a lone parent is twice as likely to be in poverty than a child living with both parents

Question 25

reaons for lone parent families and the changes

Answer 25

1. Increase in divorce  2. More single women having children  3. Decline in stigma attached to having children outside of marriage

Question 26

female-headed lone parent families

Answer 26

Lone parent families are female-headed:  1. Belief that women are naturally suited to the expressive role 2. Divorce courts usually give custody of children to the mother  3. Men are less willing than women to give up work to care for children 

Question 27

# women are choosing to be single by choice - renovoize and cashmore What do they say about female-headed lone parent families?

Answer 27

**Renovoize**, 1985 = professional women were able to support their child without the father's involvement **Cashmore**, 1985 = working class mothers would rather rely on welfare benefits due to poor relationship experiences  The rise in feminist ideas has led to an increase in lone mothers who have never married 

Question 28

# murray lone parenthood, welfare state and poverty

Answer 28

**Murray**, 1984 = argues there are more lone-parent families because the welfare state is too generous in giving benefits for unmarried women and children * The welfare state rewards irresponsible behaviour  * It creates a 'dependency culture' where people are reliant on the state supporting them  * Murray wants to abolish welfare benefits which will reduce the dependency culture

Question 29

A03 of newright view for lone parenthood, welfare state and poverty

Answer 29

Benefits are not generous and lone parent families are more likelty to be in poverty:  * Most lone parents are women – earn less than men  * Failure of fathers to pay child maintenance  * Lack of affordable childcare prevents mothers from working 

Question 30

step families

Answer 30

- Account for 10% of all families in the UK - In 85% of step families, at least one child is from the woman's previous relationship - Step-families are at a greater risk of poverty becuase there are often more kids and the father has to support the kids from his previous relationship and current one too - Allan and Crow = these family experiences issues of divided loyalties and tension with ex partners - Issues in step families may include: jelousy - neglect from kids, competition, unhappy - disliking new relationship, religious/cultural clash

Question 31

# ethnic families in family patterns What is the dominant family type for black families?

Answer 31

Higher proportions of lone-parent households High rate of female-headed, lone-parent black families  Reasons why:  Slavery = when couples were sold separately, children stayed with the mother  Male unemployment and poverty has meant that men are less able to provide for their families 

Question 32

# mirza sociologist for black families

Answer 32

Doesn’t see these trends as evidence of family disorganisation  Sees this as the high value black women place on their independence 

Question 33

what is the dominant family type for asian families?

Answer 33

Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian households tend to be larger than other ethnic groups:  1. Households can contain 3 generations, but most are still nuclear families  2. British asians have a younger age profile and are in the childbearing age groups

Question 34

# ballard sociologist for asian families

Answer 34

1. ***Ballard,*** 1982 = extended families provided support during times of migration  2. Although most households are now nuclear, they still frequently visit each other and have close ties of kinship as means of support 

Question 35

extended family today charles willmott

Answer 35

charles - Study of Swansea  Found that the classic 3 generational family was only found amongst the Bangladeshi community willmott * Extended family has not disappeared  It exists as a 'dispersed extended family'  * Relatives are geographically separated but still maintain frequent contact through visits and phone calls

Question 36

extended families today chamberlain bell

Answer 36

chamberlain- Caribbean families  'Multiple nuclear families'  Geographically dispersed but still provide support  Family members significantly help with childrearing bell Swansea  W/C and M/C families had emotional bonds with kin and relied on them for support  M/C = financial help from father to son  W/C = domestic help from mother to daughters 

Question 37

beanpole families

Answer 37

1. Extended vertically  2. Not extended horizontally  High level of contact between mothers and daughters  But there is a decline in support between siblings This suggests a beanpole structure

Question 38

Obligations to relatives - many people still feel obligated to help their wider extended families - What does Finch and Mason say? - What are women prepared for? And what aren't they chosen for when providing? - What does Mason say? History, feelings, balance

Answer 38

Finch and Mason = over 90% of people had given/received finanical help and over 50% had cared for a sick relative But this obligation's heavier on the woman in families as they take on the expressive role Woman are prepared to be the ones to provide personal care to the other family members, but they're not chosen when it comes to providing economic help Mason - these obligations depends on the history of the relationship and how these women feel towards these relations. Some feel that it's important to help other relatives to keep the balance in families and avoid feelings of animosity.