Child Bearing and Child Rearing

Created by

kia

Cards (34)

Child Bearing= the act of carrying and having children.
Child Rearing= how they are raised/socialised.
Birth rate= the total number of babies born in a given year.
Total fertility rate= the average number of children born to a woman over the course of her reproductive lifetime.
Birth rates have fallen.
They were 605,479 live births in England and Wales in 2022; a 3.31% decrease in the number of births in 2021.
This is the lowest the birth rates have been since 2002.
Fertility rates have fallen.
The TFR has fallen to 1.49 children per woman of childbearing age (15-44) this is a decrease from 2021 where the TFR was 1.55.
Women are having fewer children than in the 20th century.
Average number of children per woman in 1964 was 2.93.
Average number of children per woman in 2020 was 1.58.
Women are having children later.
Average age for a woman having their first child in 1971 was 26.5 years old.
Average age for a woman having their first child in 2019 was 30.7 years old.
More women are remaining child-free.
9% of women born in 1946 were child-free at age 45.
19% of women born in 1973 were child-free at age 45.
The number of births outside marriages and civil partnerships is higher than the number of births within marriages and civil partnerships.
In 2022 in England and Wales 311,306 of live births (51.4%) were registered to women outside of marriages and civil partnerships.
Changing attitudes and declining stigma.
There has been a decline in stigma towards premarital sex and children born outside of marriage and civil partnerships.
The number of children born outside marriage and civil partnerships is likely to increase.
Individuals values and attitudes towards parenthood have changed.
Parenthood is a lifelong, stressful commitment and some choose not to pursue it; this has also become socially acceptable.
Increased cohabitation
More people are choosing to live together and start a family, rather than marry or enter civil partnerships.
The number of children born outside marriage and civil partnerships is likely to increase.
In 2018, only 28% of 25-34 year olds believe "marriage should come before parenthood".
Secularisation
Religion as an institution has traditionally encouraged and supported childbirth within marriages, and stigmatised premarital sex.
As the influence of religion declines, people choose not to follow religious influences or traditions.
The number of children born outside marriage and civil partnerships is likely to increase.
Changes to the position of women
Women have more educational and career prospects than ever before.
Women have alternatives to 'motherhood'; they may choose to pursue educational and career aspirations and delay having children.
Some women may choose to remain child-free.
Changes to the position of women
Women's entry in to paid employment has led to their financial independence, and women may choose to pursue other interests instead of motherhood.
This increases the average age for a woman having her first child.
Economic Reasons
The costs of raising a child are substantial:
£166,000 for a couple and £220,00 for a lone parent to raise a child from age 0-18.
With increased cost of living people may choose to have fewer children, or remain child-free.
This reduces the birth rate and the total fertility rate.
Two reasons for changes in the trends and patterns:
Improved contraception.
Decline in the infant mortality rate.
Improved Contraception
Technological advances and social policies have made contraception readily available to both men and women.
Women's choice to have children is now under control, and is directly related to their career aspirations.
Decline in the Infant Morality Rate
The IMR has declined due to improvements in science and technology.
Greater understanding of scientific methods and techniques, and improved technology increase the chances of a child surviving infancy.
The Infant Morality Rate is the total number of infants who die before they reach their first birthday in a given year.
Decline in the Infant Morality Rate
Children are more likely to survive infancy than ever before.
Families used to have many children hoping some would survive through infancy; families had more children to compensate for the high IMR.
As the IMR decreases, and children are more likely to survive, this is no longer a consideration; couples are having the number of children they want, not compensating for the IMR.
Lone-parent families
Lone-parent families are becoming an increasingly common family type in the UK:
In 2018, 24% of all family types with dependent children were lone-parent families.
In 2018, one in five children liven in a lone-parent family.
Lone-parent families
A child in a lone-parent family is twice as likely to be in poverty as a child living with two parents.
Lone mothers account for approximately 90% of all lone-parent households.
Lone-parent families
Prior to the 1990s, the majority of lone-mothers were divorced women; since the 1990s, single (never married) women are now the largest group of lone-mothers.
Lone-parent families
Reasons for the growing number of lone-parent families in society:
Changes in law.
Changes in attitudes and declining stigma.
Secularisation.
Rising expectations of marriage.
Individualism-"single by choice"
Lone-parent families and the welfare state
The New Right - Murray (1984)
The welfare state creates 'perverse incentives' and a 'culture of welfare dependency'
Social policies and the welfare state reward undesirable and anti-social behaviour, which is a threat to social order.
The Dependency Ratio is the relationship between the working, productive part of the population (independents), and the non-working (dependent) part of the population.
the 'dependents' are:
children aged 15 and under.
Pensioners.
Children and pensioners do not contribute to society through taxation, as they do not work.
The taxes, savings and earnings of the independent population must be enough to support the dependent population.
How does birth rate affect the dependency ratio?
If the birth rate falls...
There are fewer children, and so you need less capital to support the now smaller dependent population.
However, fewer children being born will mean fewer adults in society, and fewer people working overall.
If the birth rate rises
The process above will occur in reverse; there will more dependents, increasing the burden on the dependency ratio, but in the long term there will be more independents, and the burden will fall again.
If your dependent population is becoming too large, and the capital of the independent population is no longer able to support them, action must be taken.
Raising taxes on the independent population to increase the amount of capital raised to continue supporting dependents in the population.
The New Right is very unhappy about this because it is not the state's responsibility to pay to raise and support your family.
Reconstituted families
Reconstituted families are a growing family type.
10% of all family types in the UK in 2018 were reconstituted families.
Children in reconstituted families more commonly come from the woman's previous relationship:
In 85% of reconstituted families have at least one child from a woman's previous relationship.
11% have at least one child from the man's previous relationship.
4% have at least one child from both partners previous relationship.
Reconstituted families
Reconstituted families are more likely to be in poverty than other family types.
There are generally more children to provide for, as each partner has existing children from a previous relationship, and may have children with their new partner, raising the total number of children within the family.
What is causing the rise of reconstituted families?
Changes in law.
Changes in attitudes and declining stigma.
Secularisation.
Rising expectations of marriage.
Individualism.