Topic 6- Changing Family Patterns

• Changes in family and household patterns in the past 40-50 years


  • The number of traditional nuclear family households-a married couple with their dependent children-has fallen
  • Divorce rate has increased
  • There are fewer first marriages, but more re-marriages
  • People are marrying later in life
  • More couples are cohabiting
  • Same-sex relationships can be legally recognised through civil partnerships or marriages
  • Women are having fewer children and having them later
  • There are more births outside marriage
  • There are more lone-parent families
  • More people live alone
  • There are more stepfamilies, and more couple without children
• 120,000 divorces


  1932
• 250,000 marriages


  2012
• From 1982 the number of marriages have decreased
• Reasons for decline in marriages

  • Secularisation (declining of importance of religion)
  • More expensive
  • Financial reasons
  • Less pressure to get married
• Since the 1960s


  There has been an increase in the number of divorces
• Divorce rate doubled between 1961 and 1969, and again between 1969 and 1972
• Divorce rate peaked at 163,000 in 1993
• In 2012 there were 118,000 divorces
• About 40% of all marriages end in divorce
• 65% of divorce petitions are now brought by women, compared to 37% in 1946
• The most common cause of divorce is the unreasonable behaviour of the husband
• Couples at greatest risk of divorce

  • Marry young
  • Have a child before they marry
  • Cohabit before marriage
  • One or both partners been married before
• Changes to the law

  1. Divorce easier

  2. Equalising between sexes in 1923 increase

  3. Widening grounds in 1971 (irretrievable breakdown)

  4. Increase x2

  5. Making divorce cheaper (legal aid) → increase
• Other options


  • Deaerson - one person leaves but remain married
  • Legal separation - Financial and legal separation, but remarriage not allowed
  • Empty shell marriages - live together but are married in name only
• Just because divorce is easier, does not necessarily mean more do it
• Secularisation


  Decline in influence of religion, society becoming more secular
• Traditional opposition of church to divorce

  Carried less weight
• Church softened their views on divorce


  Due to fear of losing credibility
• Rising expectations of marriage


  Stereotypes of perfect relationships, couples less willing to accept imperfections, divorce seen as a solution
• Marriages were often duty-based and seen as duty to the family


  Today personal fulfilment is more important
• Divorce is seen as too easy - oppression, women main cause of divorce
• Declining stigma and changing attitudes towards divorce
• Stigma


  Negative labelling, social disapproval, shame
• Decline in stigma


  Divorce more socially acceptable way to solve marriage problems
• Divorce becomes normalised as it becomes more common
• Modernity and individualism


  Traditional norms or a partner for life is no longer important, focus on self-interest, relationships are more fragile
• Women's increased financial independence - women less financially dependent on husband, less fear of divorce
• Factors contributing to women's increased financial independence

  • Women's paid work increased
  • Pay gap narrowing
  • Women's increased educational success
  • Welfare benefits more available
• Feminist explanations - women taken less burden, more conflict, more divorce
• Evidence of growing acceptance of feminism
• Divorce


  The legal dissolution of a marriage
• Perspectives on divorce


  • New right (Divorce shows individuals have the freedom to choose to end a relationship if it no longer meets their needs)
  • Postmodernism (Cannot generalise the meaning of divorce - everyone sees it differently)
  • Interactionism (A story of divorce)
  • Feminism (Desirable because it shows women are breaking free from oppression)
  • Functionalism (While divorce can cause problems, it has become normal and should now be seen as a transition in the life course)
• Divorce was virtually non-existent and only possible by a special and carefully Act of Parliament


  1457
• Grounds for divorce equaled for men and women

  1821
• Grounds widened to include desertion and cruelty


  1833
• Legal Aid available, making divorce more affordable

  1949
• Divorce Law Reform Act passed. Guilty party was abolished, sole ground for divorce was irretrievable breakdown of marriage


  1961
• Sole ground for divorce was irretrievable breakdown of marriage


  1969
• Minimum period after marriage before divorce petition 3+1 year


  1990