Parenting

• Childbearing


  The process of giving birth to children
• 47% of children are now born out of wedlock, this is over 2x the number in 1985
• Women are having children later-from 1971-2012 the average age to have their 1st child rose by 4 years to 28.1
• Women are having less children than in the 20th century- the average number was at a peak of 2.95 in 1965 and fell to a record low of 1.63 in 2001. It rose again to 1.94 in 2010
• More women are childless- prediction says 1/2 of women born in 1973 will be childless when they're 45
• Lone-parent families


  Families with only one parent
• Lone-parent families now make up 22% of all families of children
• 90% of lone-parent families are lone mothers
• Until 1990s-divorced women made up most of lone mothers. After 1990- single (never married) women are the majority
• Children in lone parent families are 2x more likely to be in poverty than children with 2 parents
• Reasons for these lone-parent patterns

  • Increases in divorce and separation
  • Newer married women having children
  • Less stigma around children before marriage
• 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
• Matriarchal lone families


  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, Reeves (1985) finding professional women are able to support the child without the father
• Cashmore (2585)- WC women will choose lone-parenthood and use welfare benefits to do so, as they went through abuse before
• Reasons for these 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, e.g. putting their career before children or choosing just a career
• Just 28% of 25-34 year olds think marriage should be before parenthood
• Lone parenthood, the welfare state and poverty

  • Murray (1984)- lone-parent families have increased because the state is overgenerous with welfare benefits, creating a perverse incentive and dependency culture
  • Criticisms-point out that lone-parent families are more likely to be in poverty due to unaffordable childcare, inadequate welfare benefits, and more lone parents being women who are paid less, as well as fathers failing to pay maintenance
• Stepfamilies


  Families where one or both partners have children from a previous relationship
• Stepfamilies make up 10% of all families with dependent children
• In 85% of stepfamilies, 1 child is from the woman's previous relationship vs 12% where 1 child is from the father's
• Ferri & Smith (1998) found stepfamilies are similar to first families, and stepparent's involvement in childcare/childbearing is positive. However, they found this family type are at higher risk of poverty
• Allen & Crow (2001)- stepfamilies can have problems of divided loyalties, and issues like contact with the non-resident parent
• Ribbens McCarthy et al (2003) conclude that there's diversity in this family type, which is why we should call it stepfamilies and not the stepfamily. Some have tensions, and some are more similar to intact families
• 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
• Nearly half of all children are now born outside marriage: over twice as many as in 1986. The main reason is the increase in cohabitation. Most births are jointly registered by both parents
• Women are having children later. More are remaining childless, or having fewer children, mainly because they now have more options, e.g. a career
• Lone-parent families account for a quarter of all families. Numbers have tripled since the 1970s, due to increased divorce and the decline in stigma of births outside marriage
• About 90% of lone-parent families are female-headed, due to the belief that women are suited to the expressive role and to courts giving mothers custody
• Reconstituted or stepfamilies are increasing due to divorce and re-marriage. They now account for 10% of all families with children. These are mostly children from the woman's previous relationship
• Stepfamilies are at higher risk of poverty because they have more children, and may also have to support children from a previous relationship
• Berthoud (2000) compared British South Asian, Black British Caribbean and White British families. He found all were moving away from old fashioned values and towards modern individualism, where individual choice is more important than binding family obligations
• British South Asian families had high marriage and fertility rates; low cohabitation and divorce rates; more three-generation households; obligations to help extended kin; a high value on family honour, few marriages outside their ethnic group. However, there are signs of change, e.g. increasing intermarriage with other groups, and increases in divorce and lone parenthood
• White British families had lower marriage and fertility rates, later marriage, and high cohabitation and divorce rates. Intermarriage with other ethnic groups was relatively common
• Black British Caribbean families had lower marriage and higher lone parenthood rates. Fertility rates were similar to White British families. However, Reynolds (2002) argues that many "lone' parents are in fact in stable non-cohabiting relationships, and Mirza (1997) argues that higher rates of lone parenthood reflect the high value Black women place on independence
• Despite the trend towards modern individualism, considerable diversity remains. For example, British Asian families may differ from one another by religion, national origins, class and generation