Theories of the Family

• In dual earner families, fathers are playing greater roles in their children's lives than in past generations
• Radical feminist Firestone


  • Argues that gender roles are still based on patriarchal roles. Female oppression and patriarchy lie within the female biology as they can carry and care for children. The artificial womb would remove such association of childbearing with females and now gender neutral.
• Choice and Equality


  • More choice allows women to choose who they want to have relationships and how they want their families to be.
  • Contraception allows women to explore relationships to find a 'pure relationship' where they stay together out of love and happiness.
  • Women have gained independence as a result of feminism, greater opportunities, education and work.
  • Marriage and the family have changed into one couples can freely define their own relationships rather than acting on obligation to past traditions.
• Beck AO3 - New Right Murray

  • Critical of 'pure relationships', with more choice, personal relationships become unstable. Most problems in society stem from the loss in traditions e.g. the nuclear family. Other family types are bad for individuals and society, Single parent family represents a culture of idleness, laziness and fecklessness.
• Functionalist Parsons


  • Biological gender roles benefit both men, women and the wider society. The roles of wives and husbands are biological. Women are designed to carry children. When gender roles are followed, the family is most functional.
• Risk society


  • We live in a risk society where people are more aware of risks and tradition has less influence over them. People can judge the risks of their own actions before committing to them. This differs to Parsons gender roles that imply that both genders need each other to function. Greater gender equality and individualism allows the negotiated family to ensue which do not conform to traditional norms of the family that vary according to the wishes of the participants.
• There has been a long-term shift in attitudes since the 1950s. Sexual morality is now seen as a personal choice. The state and churches (traditional ideologies) have lost their influence over society and individual morality. There is growing acceptance of sexual and family diversity. Attitudes become more favourable towards cohabitation (unmarried) and homosexuality (sexual preference). Sexual and family diversity are now widely accepted and Weeks sees sociologists who argue against diversity as fighting a losing battle.
• Post-feminist Hakim


  • The amount of change postmodernist think happened is an overstatement, overlooking the importance of traditional marriage. Work-centred women have the desire for individual morality but would choose domestic life if they could.
• Wilson - there is evidence to suggest that formal traditions and religious belief in the UK is being replaced by individual beliefs. Christianity (a declining religion) values marriage and sex only taking place within married couples (big no-no to adultery). As fewer people are part of organised religions, people feel less pressured to get married, resulting in its decline.
• Due to secularisation, people are given more freedom and choice as social stigmas have declined.
• Beck


  • There has been a growth in individualisation where people feel less pressured from society's norms and values and instead, influenced by individual needs. This change in attitudes and morals leads to significant structural changes in family life - therefore marriage is declining.
• Drew/Giddens


  • Because marriage is now a choice and not an obligation, people can choose to stay or leave. For example, people are in search for a 'pure relationship' and will therefore have higher expectations of their partners. In a marriage, if their expectations of equal treatment and happiness are not met, they may choose to divorce, causing the increase in divorce rates.
• Legislation such as The Divorce Reform Act 1969 made divorce more accessible to some as people no longer needed to prove the other partner guilty of matrimonial offences, changed to include 'irreversible breakdown of marriage'. This also meant that couples only needed to be separated for 2 years making divorce a quicker process. The Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 further reduced the time of separation to 1 year, making divorces an even quicker process. Feminists like this as it promotes gender equality.
• Cohabitation


  2 individuals who live together in an intimate relationship without being married. Accounts for 3.2 million couples in England and Wales.
• New Right


  • There is an over generous welfare state which has lead to greater family diversity. Murray would suggest that generous benefits have made it acceptable for women to have children outside of the nuclear family structure as they now receive financial independence from the government and no longer seek it through marriage. E.g. Housing benefit and Child benefit - Encouraged women to abandon the nuclear family as the state provides financial support (£96 for child benefits per month and £545 for child tax credit per year). This means the underclass of society emerges and that the traditional nuclear family declines as family diversity increases throughout society (Murray believes this is damaging for society).
• Legal changes have led to the increase in family diversity which also benefit women in family structures. The Marriage Act 2013 - Allows same-sex couples to marry. Treats all couples more equally to update The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 - brought the legal recognition of same-sex couples. (Functionalists regard this positively as this increases the nuclear family type). The Abortion Act 1967 - meant that women would no longer be forced to have children/be a part of the nuclear family.
• It is now easier for women to have children outside of the nuclear family structure as they now receive financial independence from the government and no longer seek it through marriage
• Financial support for women


  • Housing benefit
  • Child benefit
• The state provides financial support (£96 for child benefits per month and £545 for child tax credit per year) which encourages women to abandon the nuclear family
• This means the underclass of society emerges and that the traditional nuclear family declines as family diversity increases throughout society
• Murray believes this decline in the nuclear family is damaging for society
• Legal changes


  Have led to the increase in family diversity which also benefit women in family structures
• Legal changes

  • The Marriage Act 2013 - Allows same sex couples to marry
  • The Civil Partnerships Act 2004 - brought the legal recognition of same sex couples
  • The Abortion Act 1967 - meant that women would no longer be forced to have children/be a part of a nuclear family
  • The Adoption Act 2002 - Single people and same sex couples can legally adopt or foster children in the UK
  • The Children and Families Act 2014 - gives a right to maternity leave for women and when parents split up, they can both stay in their child's life
• Functionalists regard the legal changes positively as this increases the nuclear family type
• Feminists regard the legal changes positively as they promote Gender equality
• The legal changes have led to a decline in the nuclear family structure
• Choice and freedom within modern society means that social stigmas have dramatically decreased
• Cohabitation is normal between couples and it is becoming widely accepted as a valid living arrangement
• Marriage


  The legal union of two people as partners in a personal relationship
• Marriage rates have been declining since the 1970s where there were roughly 400,000 first marriages, however, in 2008, the numbers decreased to 242,842
• As women are more independent, they can leave unhappy marriages and remain financially stable
• 70% of divorces are petitioned by women
• Women

  • They are becoming more ambitious
  • They are no longer prioritising their families but focusing on financial independence to have a solid career before settling into family life
• The changing roles and attitudes of women = 'genderquake' where women are no longer prioritising their families but focusing on financial independence to have a solid career before settling into family life
• Women may leave their marriages for financial independence
• Divorce


  The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or another competent body
• Divorce rates have been steadily increasing since the 1970s
• Recently the divorce rates have been decreasing, likely due to the decline in marriages and increase in cohabitation
• 40% of marriages end in divorce (ONS 2018)
• Cohabitation


  Couples living together without being married