Changing patterns of family

• Divorce - the legal ending of a marriage
• Separation - Physical separation of spouses, they live apart
• Empty shell marriages - A couple continued to stay married, however, the relationship has broken down
• Changes in law, equalising the legal reasons for divorce between sexes. Making it easier to obtain divorce
• Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in stigma. Divorce is now more socially acceptable.
• Secularisation - The decline of religious influence especially in the west
• People are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when deciding divorce. Therefore, church attendance rates continue to decline
• There is an increased number of women working part time and full time and there is better educations. Law such as the equal pay/anti discrimination Act mean that women do not need to rely on a man
• Feminists believe marriage is patriarchal and only benefit men. Women feel more valued at work.
• Individualisation thesis - People pursue their own ambitions which usually involves putting their career before marriage
• Dual burden - Paid work and housework/childcare
• Triple burden - Paid work, housework/childcare AND emotional work
• There is also a fear of divorce and no more short hun weddings (Decrease in marriage)
• Cohabitation - Living together with your partner without being married
• Fear to give your life to someone, used a tribal marriage to see how relationship goes, other priorities and decreased household norms (Decrease in cohabitation)
• Same sex couples Act legalised in 2013
• Homosexual acts were decriminalised in 1967
• independence, Conflicting ideologies and beliefs, Vulnerability of child (Reasons for living apart together)
• Reduced stigma in woman, previous experience, feminist perspectives (Reasons for one person households)
• Lone parent family - A family where one parent is the sole carer for the children.
• 60% of parents are unemployed because they cannot afford childcare
• Charles Murray blames the growth of lone parent households on generous welfare benefits for unmarried mothers and their children
• Increase in divorce rates, change in stigma towards lone parents especially for women (Increased lone parent families)