family diversity

• Family Diversity


  Difference between families, in terms of the organisations, structure and roles within the family
• Murdock


  • Doesn't believe in family diversity and that the nuclear family is natural and universal
• Wilmott


  • Family diversity has been exaggerated but family structure has changed to a dispersed extended family
• Brannan


  • Believes that family structures have changed and the new family type is the beanpole family
• Anderson


  • Argues family diversity has always been present, not just in terms of power, roles and relationships
• Types of partnership


  • Marriage
  • Cohabitation
  • Same sex relationships
  • One person households
• What has happened?


  1. Number of marriages has decreased

  2. Re-marriage has increased

  3. Average of first marriages is increasing

  4. Cohabitation has increased

  5. Same sex relationships increased

  6. One person households numbers have increased
• Evidence


  • 2012-175,000 marriages which has halved since 1970
  • 2012- approximately 2.9 million cohabiting couples
  • 2014-4850 gay marriages
  • 2016-7019 gay marriages
  • 2013- 3 in 10 households were single people and in 1961 it was 1 in 10
• Sociologists views


  • Functionalists
  • Feminists
• Reasons for change


  • Less stigma
  • 1970 Equal Pay Act
  • Secularisation
  • Fear of divorce
  • Change in legislation
  • Reduced stigma
  • Widowhood
  • Life expectancy
  • More financial independence for women
  • Increased divorced men living alone
• Divorce


  Major cause of changing family patterns and greater diversity
• Divorce


  1. 1960s- there has been a great increase in the number of divorces in the UK

  2. 1961-1969 -numbers doubled and doubled again by 1972

  3. 40% of all marriages end in divorce
• Explanations for increased divorce


  • Changes in Law
  • Declining Stigma and Changing attitudes
  • Secularisation
  • Rising expectations of marriage
  • Womens increased financial independence
• Changes in Law


  • 1969 Divorce Law Reform Act abolished the idea of matrimonial offence 'guilty party'
  • 2004 Civil Partnership Act allows for legal dissolution of civil partnership
  • 2014 Same Sex marriages - same grounds for divorce apply to both genders
• Declining Stigma and Changing attitudes


  • Churches used to condemn divorce and refused to conduct marriage services including divorcees
  • Mitchell & Goody (1997) an important change since the 1960s has been a rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce
• Secularisation


  Decline in influence of religion, churches soften views on divorce
• Rising expectations of marriage


  Fletcher (1966) - higher expectations placed on marriage today cause a rise in divorce, people are less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage
• Womens increased financial independence


  1961- 2013 - 53% - 67% - proportion of women working, women no longer need to depend on a man
• Allan & Crow


  Marriage is 'less embedded within the economic system'