family patterns

• What is the changing pattern of divorce?

  Increased in last 50 years
• Why was there a fall in the divorce rate in the 1990s?

  Fewer people married & chose to cohabit instead
• What proportion of divorce applications come from women?

  2/3
• Which couples are more likely to divorce?

  Marry young

  Having a child before cohabit/marriage

  Been married before
• What year was the Divorce Reform Act?

  1969
• What is a legal separation?

  Court separates the financial & legal affairs of the couple yet they remain married
• What is an ‘empty shell marriage’?

  Couple live under the same roof but are married in name only
• How has the stigma attached to divorce changed?

  More socially accepted

  More common

  Seen as less shameful
• What impact has secularisation had on divorce?

  Decline in religious attitudes which are against divorce
• What reason did Fletcher (1966) give for the change in divorce rate?

  Expectations of marriage are much higher

  Linked to ideology of romantic love

  Previously marriage was out of duty
• What do functionalists say about the divorce rate changes?

  Destroying the stability provided by the nuclear family
• What do feminists say about the divorce rate changes?

  Liberates women from the oppression of marriage
• What impact has women in the workplace had on the divorce rate?

  Greater financial independence – not relying on man to provide
• What reason did Hochschild (1977) give for changes in the divorce rate?

  Domestic labour is unfavourable compared to work

  Men resist domestic labour

  Causes conflict

  Makes marriage less stable
• How did Cooke & Gash (2010) criticise Hochschild?

  No evidence working women are more likely to divorce, working is the norm for married women
• What did Giddens mean by the ‘pure relationship’?

  Exists for partner’s needs & not for tradition / children
• What is the changing pattern of marriage?


  Less marriages & getting married later
• What are 3 reasons for the changes in patterns of marriage?


  Changing attitudes

  Secularisation

  Declining stigma to alternatives

  Changes in position of women

  Divorce increases
• What reason explains a reduced number of church marriages?

  Secularisation, not marrying divorcees
• What is cohabitation?

  Unmarried couple living together in a sexual relationship
• What reason explains increased rates of cohabitation?

  Decline in stigma sex outside marriage

  Careers

  Financial independence

  Secularisation

  Trial run
• What percentage of cohabiting couples intend to marry according to Coast (2006)?

  75%
• What did Bejin (1985) say about cohabitation?

  Conscious attempt at more personally negotiated & equal relationship – permanent alternative to marriage
• According to Stonewall (2012) what percentage of the population have same sex relationships?

  5-7%
• In what year was homosexuality decriminalised in the UK?

  1967
• What year was the Civil Partnership Act?

  2004
• What did Weeks (1999) say about the shape of same sex families?

  Based on the idea of ‘friendship as kin’ – chosen families offering the stability of heterosexual families
• What are three reasons for the increase in lone person households?

  Ageing population

  Women working

  Divorce

  Marrying later

  LAT
• What is LAT?

  Living apart together – significant relationship but not married or cohabiting
• What did Duncan & Philips (2013) say about LAT?

  Family of choice

  Public attitude favourable

  No longer abnormal
• What is the pattern of childbearing in the last 50 years?

  Less births & mothers getting older
• What reason is given for changes in childbearing?

  Women independence

  Childfree

  Contraception
• What percentage of lone parent families are headed by a mother?

  90%
• Why are lone parent families usually female headed?

  Expressive role

  Custody awarding

  Men less willing to give up work

  Men desert
• What did Murray (1984) say about lone parent families?

  Welfare state creates perverse incentive, dependency culture and delinquency
• What are reconstituted families?

  Step-families
• What did Ferri & Smith (1998) say about reconstituted families?

  Similar to first families, but greater risk of poverty
• According to the 2011 Census what percentage of the population are white?

  86%
• Why do black families have a higher proportion of lone parent households?

  Slavery, unemployment black males
• What reason did Mirza (1997) give for higher proportion of lone parent black families?

  Value black women place on independence