Legislation

• Changes in law

  laws such as the Divorce Reform Act, legislation of contraception and civil partnership act have increased family diversity
• Beverage Report (1942)

  • introduced the welfare state including housing benefit and the NHS
  • led to the removal of some of the functions of the family to the welfare state
• Divorce Reform Act (1969)

  • made divorce easier to obtain
  • allowed women to file for divorce from her husband without having to prove adultery, abuse, or abandonment
  • led to an increase in family diversity, especially single parents families and reconstituted families
  • increased women’s independence
• Legislation of the Contraceptive Pill (1967)

  • made it legal for women who were unmarried to obtain the contraceptive pill
  • allowed women to have control over their bodies and how many children they had
  • this led to a decline in the birth rate