Households

• Cohabitation

  • There are 3.5 million cohabiting heterosexual couples in the UK and estimated 320,000 same-sex couples.
  • Increased career opportunities for women may also mean they have less need for financial security of marriage.
  • Chester argues cohabitation is a step in the process of marriage - 'a try before you buy'
• Cohabitation

  • Some see cohabitation as a permanent alternative to marriage
  • Cohabitation doesn't mean the same thing to every couple. It covers a diverse range of partnerships and the relationship between marriage and cohabitation is a complex and varied one.
• Cohabitation

  • Many see cohabitation as a trial marriage and intend to marry if it goes well. It is a temporary phase.
  • Bejin argues that cohabitation among some young people represents a conscious attempt to create more negotiated and equal relationships
  • Shelton and John found that women who cohabit do less housework.
• Same-sex relationships

  • Stonewall estimates that 5-7% of the adult population have same-sex relationships
  • There has been increased social acceptance
  • Weston describes same-sex cohabitation as quasi-marriage and notes that many gay couples are now deciding to cohabit as stable partners.
• Same-sex relationships

  • Social policy is now beginning to treat all couples equally
  • In 2004, the Civil Partnership Act has given same-sex couples similar legal rights as married couples
• Chosen families

  • Weeks argues that increased social acceptance may explain a trend towards same-sex cohabitation + stable relationships
  • Weeks sees lesbians and gay men as creating families based on the idea of 'friendship as kinship'
  • He describes these as 'chosen families' and argues that they offer the same security and stability as heterosexual families.
• Same-sex couples

  • Social policy is now beginning to treat all couples equally
  • In 2004, The Civil Right Partnership Act has given same-sex couples the same legal rights as married couples.
  • Allan and Crow argue that because of the absence of a legal framework until recently, same-sex couples have had to negotiate their commitment and responsibilities more than married couples - made same-sex relationships are flexible + less stable.
• Same-sex couples

  • Einadottir - many gays and lesbians welcome the opportunity to have their partnership legally recognised, other fear it may limit the flexibility and negotiability of relationships.
  • Rather than adopt what they see as heterosexual relationship norms, they wish their relationship to be different.
• One person households

  • Big rise in the number of people living alone, in 2019 almost 3 in 10 households contained only 1 person.
  • Half of all one-person households are of pensionable age. Pensioner one-person households have doubled since 1961
  • By 2033, over 30% of the adult population will be single
  • The increase in separation and divorce has created more one person households
• Creative singlehood - choosing to be single

  • It is now more common for women and men to choose to remain single. This may be because they can't find a suitable partner or are not happy to settle.
  • More than 6.5 million people now live on their own
  • EVAL - Many chose to remain single and live alone, some are alone because there are too few partners available in their age group - mainly older widows.
• Childbearing

  • 48.5% of children are born outside of marriage - twice as many since 1986. But nearly all these births were jointly registered.
  • Women are having fewer children to a record low of 1.58 in 2020
  • Women are having children later, the average age at the birth of the first child is 30.7 years
  • More women are remaining childless; 19% of those born in 1978 were childless by the age of 45 compared to 9% in 1946
• Childbearing reasons

  • Decline in stigma and increase in cohabitation. Only 28% of 25-34 year olds now think marriage should come before parenthood
  • Increase in births to cohabiting couples
  • Women have more options than just motherhood - careers
• Step-families

  • These families account for over 10% of all families with dependent children
  • In 86% of step-families at least 1 child from the women's previous relationships, while in 11% for men and 4% from both
  • Step-families are at a greater risk of poverty
  • Step-families may face problems such as divided loyalty
• Step-families reasons

  • Step-families are formed when lone parents form new relationships as such an increase in divorce is a reason for the growth of this type of family
  • Children are more likely to live with mum when families break up
  • Tensions may be faced due to a lack or clear social norms about how you should behave in there families
• Lone-parent families

  • They make up 24% of all families. 1 child in 4 lives in a lone parent family.
  • Over 90% of these families are headed by a woman.
  • Until the early 1990s divorced women became the biggest group of lone mothers. Later it became single women.
• Lone-parent families

  • A child living with a lone parent is more than twice as likely to be in poverty as a child living with 2 parents
  • 3 million children (21% of all dependent children) in lone-parent families - 2020
• Lone-parent families - Reasons

  • Increased due to the number of divorces and separation
  • Never married women having children - decline in stigma
  • LPF tend to be female headed because of the belief that women are by nature better suited to the expressive role
• Lone-parent reasons

  • Murray argues that the growth of LPF is a result of an over-generous welfare state - perverse incentives
  • Single by choice - They may not wish to marry or cohabit and may choose to limit the fathers involvement. Renvoize found that women were able to support their child financially.
• Living apart together

  • Duncan and Phillips in the British Social attitudes survey found that 1 in 10 adults are 'LAT' - in a relationship but not married or cohabiting - half of all people officially classified as single
  • Duncan and Phillips, conclude that while being a LAT is no longer seen as abnormal, it probably doesn't amount to a rejection of more traditional relationships.
• Living apart together

  • Duncan and Phillips found that both choice and constraint play a part in whether couples live together e.g. Some said they couldn't afford to, a minority actively chose to live apart because they wanted to keep their own home or it was to early to 'cohabit'