Families topic 5

• (Divorce) explanations for increase- changes in law

  Have made divorce easier: equalising the grounds for divorce between the sexes, widening the grounds for divorce, making divorce cheaper by using legal aid

  • There’s also other solutions for an unhappy marriage, e.g. desertion (not together, but not divorced), legal separation (court separates financial affairs, but they remain married) However, these are less popular because divorces easier now
• (Divonce) explanations for increase- decline in stigma and changing attitudes


  Mitchel and goody since 1960s, there’s been a rapid decline in stigma attached to divorce, as stigma, decreases and divorce becomes more socially acceptable couples become more willing to resort to divorce as it’s been normalised
• (Divorce) explanations for increase- secularisation

  weber- decline in the influence of religion, in society, societies, becoming more secular as a result of the churches opposition to divorce carries less meaning and people are less likely to be influenced by religious texts

  • Churches have began to soften on divorce out of fear of losing credibility with large sections of society
• (Divorce) explanations for increase- rising expectations of marriage

  Fletcher- Augies high expectations on marriage has caused divorce rates to heighten, marriages based on love, not forced or for money, they believe if love, dies there, there’s no point being married
• (Divorce) explanations for increase- women’s increased financial independence

  Allen and crow- women are more financially independent, so don’t depend on husbands so have the money to leave marriages

  • Women are paid more equally due to equal pay, anti-discrimination laws and families, no longer unit of production, so they don’t depend on each other
• (divorce) explanations for increase- feminism

  Feminist argue, women carry dual burden and creating a new source of tension between husband and wife

  • hoschild-homes become unfavourable to women at work, they are valued at home men’s unwillingness to do housework creates tension as both partners work there’s less time and energy for emotional work
  • sigle-rushton - Mothers, have dual burden, divorce rates lower when men help with the housework
  • bernard- women may feel growing dissatisfaction with patriarchal marriage
• (divorce) explanations for increase-contraception

  Better contraception means people don’t have to marry to not have a bastard child
• (divorce) meaning of a high divorce rate- new right

  See it as undesirable, because it undermines a nuclear family, which they view as key social solidarity, they say divorce, as creating a growing underclass of welfare, dependent women, who are a burden to the state, leaves boys without a father, which they need
• (divorce) meaning of a high divorce rate- feminism

  See it as desirable as it shows women are breaking free from oppression from patriarchy
• (divorce) meaning of a high divorce rate- postmodern, and individualisation thesis


  See it, as showing that individuals have a greater freedom to choose to end the relationship when it no longer meets their needs
• (divorce) meaning of a high divorce rate- functionalists

  See high divorce rate as not a threat to marriage. Just the result of peoples higher expectations of marriage, high rate of rem marriage proves this
• (Divorce) meaning of a high divorce rate- interactionalists

  Morgan-aim to understand what divorce means to the individual, Morgan says we can’t generalise about the meaning of divorce because it’s different for everyone
• (Partnership) marriage

  Important changes in marriage, including fewer people marrying, more remarriages, people marrying later, and people less likely to marry in a church
• (partnership) reasons for change

  First marriages- reasons for fall are similar to reasons for increase in divorce, secularisation, declines and stigma attached to alternatives, (e.g. cohabitation, remaining single), changes in position of women, women, less financially dependent on men, giving them freedom, not to marry, fear of divorce

  • Reasons for other changes marriages are due to divorce, age on marrying change, due to people being in education for longer, decline in church weddings = secularisation
• (Partnership) cohabitation

  Unmarried couples living together, becoming increasingly popular 2.9 million cohabiting heterosexual couples in the UK, 69,000 same-sex couples

  • reasons for it - decline and stigma attached to sex, outside, marriage, young people, more likely to accept cohabitation, increased career opportunities, Women have less need for financial security of marriage, secularisation.
• (Partnership) relationship between cohabitation and marriage

  Chester argues people see cohabitation as part of the process of getting married 75% of cohabiting capital will say they expect to marry each other

  • A trial marriage- many cohabitation as a trial marriage and intend to marry if it goes well some cohabitation is a permanent alternative to divorce Benjin Augies citation represents a conscious effort to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than patriarchal marriage
• (Partnership) same-sex relationship

  Stonewall- the campaign for lesbian/gay/buy right estimates 5 to 7% of the population are in the same sex relationship.

  There is evidence of increased social change: male homosexual acts were decriminalised in 1967, right to adopt in 2002, write to marriage in 2014, write to inherit in 2004
• (Partnership) chosen families

  Weeks- sees homosexual people is creating the idea of ‘friendship as kinship’ meaning people can choose their family, which will offer the same security and stability of heterosexual families

  • Weston describes, same-sex cohabitation as ‘quasi-marrige’ and many gay couples are choosing to cohabit as stable partners, which was rejected in 2015
  • einasdottir- argues while many gay people are welcome to the opportunity of having their partnership recognised, other others, fear and may limit the flexibility and negotiability of relationships, may turn to hetro norms
• Partnership- one person, households

  Fewer people living alone, rise in one person household 1/10 40% are 65+

  • reasons for change increase in divorce, usually men cause in divorce women usually have to keep the kids, decline in people marrying
• Partnership- Living apart together

  Levin- describes this as couples together, choosing to live separately, numbers of living, apart together, couples have risen due to divorce, becoming a more common way of dealing with fallout from broken relationships, growing individualisation and choice in relationships as people living longer
• Parents and children- childbearing

  47% of kids born out of marriage, women, having kids later, women, having fewer kids or having none at all

  • Reasons for change-
  • increase in births out of marriage due to decline in stigma and increase cohabitation,
  • people more individualised, and want to have choice and freedom in their lives,
  • women, having kids = smaller family sizes
  • more options than just motherhood, e.g. wanting a career
• Parents and children- lone parent families

  Number of lone parent families has tripled since 1971, they make up 22% of all families with kids, 90% are headed by women

  • Reasons for change- Risen due to increased divorce, they tend to be female lead because of :
  • fewer shotgun weddings,
  • no need to marry If you get someone pregnant,
  • divorce courts, often give the kids to women,
  • reproductive technology,
  • greater economic independence,
  • single by choice, women who’ve experienced abuse and may choose just to stay single.
• parents and children- lone parenthood, the welfare, state, and poverty

  Murray- sees growth of lone parent families as the result of an overgenerous welfare state, providing benefits for single mums and kids,

  • he argues this as produced ‘perverse incentive’ as welfare state creates dependency culture, where people assume the state will support them and their kids, he argues to abolish benefits
• Parents and children- step families

  Step families account for 10% of all families in Britain, in 85% of families. One kid is from women’s previous relationship, in 4% of step families, there’s kids from both partners relationships

  • Ferri and Smith step families were very similar to 1st families in all major aspects, the involvement of step parents in childcare is a positive one
  • Alan and Crow found step families face problems of loyalties
• parents and children- step families p2

  Reasons for patterns, step families caused by divorce and separation, most kids in step families come from women, because when divorce occurs kids, most likely to stay with Mum , step families are at risk of poverty as there’s more kida
• Parents and children- ethnic differences in family patterns (black families)

  Caribbean and African people have a higher proportion of loan, parent families, in 2012 1/2 of black families were loan, parents, high rate of female loan, parents, families can be dated back to slavery, when couples were sold separately, kids stayed with Mum , which established a pattern of family life that persists today.

  • male unemployment has meant men less able to provide for fams= higher rates of desertation
  • Mizra argues high rates of loan, parent families reflect high value, black women place on independence
• parents and children- ethnic differences in family patterns (Asian famlilies)

  Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian households tend to be larger than white/black families, they are often extended families showing value place on all relatives

  • These families provide support when migrating in the 50s and 60s, in this period houses washed by extended families, however, more recently, there’s been a move to nuclear families, but relatives live, nearby,
  • these fams have a strong, emphasis on old-fashioned values of marriage, loyalty
• Extended family today

  Charles study in 2008, found extended family is extinct. Only exception was in Bangladeshi community.

  • Wilmott argues the extended family hasn’t entirely disappeared. It continues to exist as a dispersed extended family where all relatives are geographically, separate, but maintain frequent contact through visits and calls
  • Chamberlin suggest extended family survives because it performs important functions for its members. E.g. Bell found both wc and mc relied on kin for emotional support Mc there was more financial help wc, more domestic help
• Extended family today- beanpole family

  Bells suggest the importance of the beanpole family which Brannon describes as long and thin as it’s extended vertically grandparents/parents/kids, not horizontally aunt/uncles/cousins

  • Charles high level of contact between Mum and daughters that Bell found in the 60s, however, with brothers and sisters, there had been a sharp decline in support and contact
  • Beanpole family may be a result of demographic changes one increased life expectancy, more surviving grandparents/great grandparents, smaller family sizes, fewer siblings
• extended family today- obligations to relatives

  despite rising beanpole families, many people still feel obligated to help wide fam Finch and Mason found that over 90% of people had received financial help and half had cared for a relative

  • However, there’s still some variability of what can be expected of different relatives, Finch and Mason found more is expected from females when it comes to help with household tasks. Sons are rarely chosen as caregivers daughters rarely chosen as appropriate people to provide money.