Changes in family structure

• Divorce


  Increase in divorce since the 1960s, figures doubling in 1962-69, and then again in 1972. Peak in 1992 at 165,000. Rate was 118,000 in 2012, meaning 40% of marriages end in divorce and that the figure is 6x higher than 1961's.
• Changes in law


  1. Equalising the grounds (legal reasons behind divorce for each sex)

  2. Widening the grounds for divorce

  3. Making divorce cheaper
• Stigma around divorce


  Previously socially disapproved of, shameful, etc. Churches condemned it and refused to conduct marriages with divorcees.
• Secularisation


  Decline of religion's influence in society
• Rising expectations of marriage

  The high expectations people have about marriage (ideas of romantic love), and when that isn't/is no longer the reality, people are less tolerable and will head straight for a divorce
• This functionalist view is criticised for ignoring that divorcees remarriage at a high rate and aren't rejecting marriage as an institution. Feminists say they ignore women's oppression that leads to conflict and divorce.
• Women's increased financial independence

  Women being more likely to seek divorce comes from them no longer being economically dependent on their husband, and therefore able to end an unhappy marriage
• Factors contributing to women's increased financial independence

  • Women are more involved in paid work (rose to 67% in 2013 from 53% in 1971)
  • Equal pay and anti-discrimination laws- help reduce pay gap
  • Girl's educational success- now gets them better paid jobs
  • Welfare benefits- more available, women don't have to rely on husbands
• Feminist explanations for higher divorce rates

  • Married women today have a dual burden- paid & domestic work. This is a new source of conflict for husbands/wives, so divorce rates are higher.
  • Although societal change has been positive (education, employment, etc)- the private sphere has changed very slowly- marriage is still patriarchal where men benefit from the triple shift.
  • Home is unfavourable when compared to work. Women feel valued at work but men's refusal to housework is frustrating and makes marriage unstable- causing high divorce rates.
  • Divorce rate is higher because women are aware of patriarchal oppression in marriages and are more confident in rejecting them.
• Perspectives on what a higher divorce rate means

  • New Right- high rate is negative as it undermines marriage and traditional nuclear family, which are vital to social stability.
  • Feminists- high rate is positive as it means women becoming free from oppressive patriarchal family.
  • Postmodernists/individualisation thesis- high rate shows individuals have more freedom to end relationships, causes high family diversity.
  • Functionalists- it's not a threat to institution of marriage, just a response to high marriage expectations.
  • Interactionalists- we can't generalise what divorce means to individuals.
  • Personal life- accepts problems divorce causes, like women's financial problems and lack of child contract, but they say the family can adapt without disintegrating as divorce is normalised.
• Same-sex relationships


  Stonewall campaign (2012)- estimates 5-7% of the adult population has same-sex relationships. There's been increased acceptance over the years, like male homosexual acts being decriminalised in 1967 for 21 and over males. Opinion polls show more acceptance too. Social policy treats all couples more equally.
• Chosen families


  Increased social acceptance explains trends towards cohabiting same-sex couples. Gays create families based on 'friendship as kinship' (chosen families that give the same security/stability as straight ones). Same-sex cohabitation is quasi-marriage, and more gay couples decide to cohabit as stable partners. This contrasts 1970 gay lifestyles that reject monogamy and family life for casual relationships.
• One-person households


  Rise of people living alone- in 2013 almost 3 in 10 households were one-person. This is 3x the amount in 1961. 40% of this household type are 65 or over, shows pensioner households doubling since 1961. By 2033, 30+% of the adult population will be unpartnered and never married.
• Reasons for rise in one-person households


  • Increase in separation & divorce- creates more one-person households. Men under 65 especially as fathers are more likely to leave the family home.
  • Decline in marrying and more people marrying later- means more people remain single, could be through choice (creative singlehood).
  • 1 in 10 adults are living apart together- they're in a relationship but aren't cohabiting/marrying.
• Same-sex cohabitation


  Quasi-marriage, more gay couples decide to cohabit as stable partners
• Lone-parent families


  This family type now makes up 22% of all families of children, ¼ children are in a lone-parent family
• Reasons for childbearing changes

  • Increased births outside of wedlock- due to less stigma and increases in cohabitation
  • Women's small family size/late motherhood/no children- due to the wider options women have, like putting their career before children or choosing just a career
• Reasons for lone-parent patterns


  • There are more lone parents because of increases in divorce and separation, as well as never married women having children
  • Before, the stigma around children before marriage was high, so lone-parent families were due to a partner dying. This is rarely the case now
  • Widespread belief of women's expressive role, divorce courts giving custody to mothers more, and that men are less willing than women to give up work for children
  • Some women are single by choice, like Renvoize (1985) finding professional women are able to support the child without the father. Cashmore (1985)- WC women will choose lone-parenthood and use welfare benefits to do so, as they went through abuse before
• Murray (1984)


  Lone-parent families have increased because the state is overgenerous with welfare benefits, creating a perverse incentive and dependency culture
• Criticisms of Murray's view

  • Unaffordable childcare prevents parents from working
  • Inadequate welfare benefits
  • More lone parents are women, who are paid less
  • Fathers fail to pay maintenance, especially if they make a 2nd family to support
• Stepfamilies


  This family type makes up 10% of all families with dependant family, in 85% of stepfamilies, 1 child is from the woman's previous relationship vs 11% where 1 child is from the father's
• Reasons for stepfamilies patterns

  • Stepfamilies are formed from lone parents having new partnerships
  • Children are more likely to stay with their mum after divorce, explaining why children in stepfamilies are from women more
  • This family type is at more risk of poverty because there's more children to care for and father may be supporting children from another relationship too
  • Tensions can come from the lack of social norms there are about how people should behave in this 'new' family type
• Mirza (1997) argues black people's higher rate of lone families is actually a reflection of the value black mothers put on independence
• Tracey (2010) argues the stats are misleading because many one mothers are in stable non-cohabiting relationships
• Beanpole family


  Extends vertically- though 3+ generations of grandparents, parents & children, doesn't extend horizontally- no aunts, uncles, cousins, etc
• Reasons for the beanpole family


  • Increased life expectancy- more grandparents/great-grandparents
  • Smaller family sizes- less siblings, less horizontal ties