Families and Households

Topic 5
Changing Family Patterns
Divorce Patterns and Trends
Forms of Marital Breakdown:
1. Divorce: the legal ending / dissolution of a marriage
2. Separation: Couples agree to live apart but have not petitioned for divorce.
3. Empty-shell marriage: Couple remains together only in ‘name’ – no love or intimacy but
may remain in the same household.
Due to:
 Financial reasons, stigma, children, convenience, arranged marriages, ‘beards’.
Additional divorce trends:
Divorce Rate: No. of divorces per 1000 marriages  33% of marriages end in divorce in the UK
 Highest points for marriage: 1972 – 426,241  Women petitioned for 62% of divorces in
 Lowest points for marriage: 2009 – 232,443 England and Wales (2019)
 Highest points for divorce: 1993 – 165,018  The average age for divorce is 46.4 for
 Lowest points for divorce: 1958 – 22,654 men and 43.9 for women
 People over 45 are more likely to obtain a
divorce (‘silver splitters’)

Divorce Law: History

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1923: Men and women on equal footing for the first Gender / Equality
time – either can apply for a divorce on the basis of adultery.

1937: Grounds widened to include desertion and cruelty Made easier/cheaper

1949: legal aid became available making divorce more affordable

The Divorce Reform Act (1969): Abolished the idea of matrimonial offence or ‘guilty
party’ Allowing for a ‘no fault’ divorce e.g. ‘irretrievable breakdown’.
Widens grounds
But still required the breakdown be proved by evidence on one of the ‘five facts’:
adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, couple has been separated for 2 years
and both agree to divorce, or couple has been separated for 5 years.

The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act (2014): Legalises marriage of same-sex
Gay rights!
couples. Grounds and process for divorce is the same as opposite-sex couples.

Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020): Clarifies ‘no fault’ divorce. No
requirement to provide evidence of ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or a period of Widens grounds
separation. Instead, applicant is to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown of further.
the marriage or civil partnership.

Explanations for the rising divorce rate between 70s + 90s:

 Secularisation
 Rising Expectations of Marriage
 Changes in attitudes: higher marital expectations, ‘soul mate’.
 Modernity and individualisation: Individuals pursue their self-interest and prioritise own needs (Beck)
 Changes in the position of women: Financial independence, higher aspirations, feminist ideas
 Influence of digital technology.
 Families and Households
Topic 5
Sociological Explanations of Divorce
7 Explanations for the increase in divorces
Three kinds:
 Equalising the grounds for legal reasons for divorce between the sexes
Changes in
 Widening the grounds for divorce - easier to obtain
Law
 Making divorce cheaper e.g. 1949 legal aid was introduced
Divorce rates have risen with each change of law.
Mitchell + Goody – an important change since the 60s is the rapid decline in stigma attached
Declining
to divorce.
stigma +
 As stigma declines divorce becomes more socially acceptable = couples more willing to get
changing
divorced
attitudes
 Has made divorce normalised
 Religious institutions and ideas are losing their influence
Secularisation
 Has meant the traditional opposition to divorce has lessened
Fletcher – the higher expectations people place on marriage is a major cause of rising divorce
rates
 Linked to the ideology of romantic love: marriage is based on love, not economic factors, or
Rising
duties. If love dies, no reason to stay together.
expectations
 Used to be little choice over marriage (economic reasons) – meant expectations were low +
of marriage
people weren’t dissatisfied by absence of love.
H – functionalists believe the high rate of re-marriage = divorce doesn’t mean the rejection of
marriage.
Women entering paid work + welfare benefits have made them less financially dependent on
men – freer to end unsatisfactory marriages.
- The proportion of women working rose from 53% in 1971 to 67% in 2013.
Women’s
- Though women still generally earn less than men – pay gap has narrowed
increased
- Girls’ are succeeding in education – achieving high paid jobs
financial
Means women are more likely to be able to support themselves in a divorce
independence.
Allan + Crow  “marriage is less embedded within the economic system” – means there are
fewer family firms + family is no longer unit of production.
So spouses aren’t so dependent on each other economically
Married women take on a dual burden of paid work and housework/childcare
- Women experience equality at work, at home they take a triple shift – this has created a
new source of conflict = higher divorce rate.
Feminist - Explains why 70% of divorce rates come from women.
explanations Hochschild – for many women, the home compares unfavourably with work – at work women
feel valued, at home men resist housework – less stable marriage.
- Both partners also now work = less time and energy for emotion work – contributes to
higher divorce rates.
Beck and Giddens – in modern society traditional norms (e.g. staying w the same partner)
loses their hold over individual  each individual is free to pursue their own interests – known
Modernity as the individualisation thesis
and - Results in more divorce – unwilling to stay married if it doesn’t deliver personal fulfilment.
Individualism - Modernity encourages both sexes to pursue career ambitions + adopt a consumerist
identity based on self-interest
Causes conflicts of interests that pull people apart.
Partnerships
Families and Households
Topic 5
Important changes in marriage:
- Marriage rates are at their lowest since the 1920s.
- BUT more re-marriages – leading to ‘serial monogamy’ (pattern or marriage – divorce –
re-marriage).
- People are marrying later
- Couples are less likely to marry in church

Reasons for Changing Patterns

1. Changing attitudes to marriage – less pressure to marry + more freedom to choose the
relationship they want.
 There’s now a widespread belief that the quality of a relationship is more important
than legal status – marriage is no longer the norm.
2. Secularisation – the churches are in favour of marriage – as the influence declines
people feel freer to not marry.
2001 Census  Only 3% of young people with no religion were married compared to 17% of
those with a religion.
3. Declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage
 Cohabitation, remaining single, having kids outside marriage is now socially acceptable.
 Pregnancy no longer leads to ‘shotgun weddings.’
1998  70% believed couples who want kids should get married. 2012  12%
4. Changes in position of women
 Better educational and career prospects leave many women less economically
dependent = greater freedom to not marry.
Feminist view – marriage is an oppressive patriarchal institution.
5. Fear of divorce
 With the rising divorce, some may be put off from marriage as its likely to end in divorce.

Reasons for other changes in marriage patterns:

1. Remarriages – main reason is the rise in divorce rate
2. Age of marrying – the age couples marry is rising due to young people postponing
marriage for education or for their career.
 Couples also often cohabit before marriage.
3. Church weddings – couples nowadays are less likely to have church weddings due to:
 Secularisation
 Churches refusing to marry divorcees + divorcees having less desire to marry in a church.

Cohabitation – the no. of cohabiting couples is continuing to rise

Reasons for the increase:
 Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage
 1989 - 44% of people agreed ‘premarital sex is not wrong at all’, 2012 - 65% agreed.
 The young are more likely to accept cohabitation
 Increased career opportunities for women – freer to opt for cohabitation (financial
freedom)
 Secularisation – young people with no religion are more likely to cohabit.

The relationship between cohabitation and marriage:

 Families and Households
Topic 5
 Though cohabitation increases as marriage decreases – the relationship between the
two is not clear.
 For some couples it’s a step away from marriage, for some it’s a permanent alternative.
Chester  Cohabitation is part of the marriage process for most
Coast  75% of cohabitating couples say they expect to marry.

A Trial Marriage
Temporary Phase: A phase before marriage because one or both partners are waiting for
divorce
Permanent Phase: A permanent alternative to marriage
Bejin  cohabitation amongst some young people represents a conscious attempt to create
a more equal relationship than a patriarchal marriage.
Cohabitation covers a diverse range of partnerships – doesn’t mean the same to every
couple

Same-sex relationships
2019 – 215,000 opposite sex marriages + 6,728 same-sex marriages.
(Decrease of 6.5% in same sex from 2018)
There’s now greater acceptance + legal equality / policies to treat all couples equally.
Weeks – argues increased social acceptance explains trend towards same-sex cohabitation
and stable relationships.
 Sees gay people as creating families based on the idea ‘friendship is kinship’
 Describes ‘chosen families’ – offer same security and stability as biological families.
Elinasdottir – some same-sex couples choose to not have their partnership legally
recognised – don’t want to conform to heteronormative relationships.

One person households

Fewer people today are living in couples:
 Rise in no. of people living alone – 2013 – 3/10 (3X the figure from 1961)
 40% of all OPHs are over 65 – pensioner OPHs have doubled since 1961 + non-
pensioners have tripled.
 By 2033 over 30% of the adult population will be unpartnered and never married.
Reasons for the change:
 Rise in separation / divorce (particularly for men under 65)  bc most divorces end with
children living with their mother.
 Decline in no. of marriages + later marriages – more people remaining single
o H – many are alone because there are no available partners in age range (widows)
‘Living apart together’  often assumed those living with a partner don’t one, from choice
or not.
Duncan + Phillips – British attitudes survey – 1 in 10 adults ‘live apart together’ – in a
significant relationship, but not married or cohabitating.
 Reflects a trend towards less formalised relationships + ‘families of choice’
 Conclude while LAT is no longer abnormal, doesn’t amount to rejection of more
traditional relationships.

H – Duncan + Phillips – choice + constraint play a part in whether couples live together e.g. some can’t
afford to.
H – A minority actively choose to live apart e.g. wanting to keep their own home because of previously
troubled relationship or it’s ‘too early’ to cohabit.
 Families and Households
Topic 5
Parenting, Ethnic Differences and the Extended Family
Parents and children
ONS Patterns + Trends in England/Wales and why:
1. Majority of babies are born out of Wedlock (51.5%) (2011)
- Secularisation + Cohabitation
- Feminism
- Decline in marriage / later marriages.
2. Women giving birth at a later age (average of 29) (2020)
- Feminism – Sharpe: women are having families later due to prioritising career aspirations / academics.
- Decline in pressure for women to get married at an earlier age (Secularisation)
- Rising expectations of marriage (Fletcher)
3. Women are having fewer children (average of 1.92 kids in 2020)
- Feminism
- Golden age of childhood / child-centredness  expensive / liability
- East access to contraception
Lone-Parent Families
Patterns + Trends and why:
1. 2.9 million lone-parent families in 2020 – on the rise
- Rising divorce rate + decline in stigma for ‘bastard’ children
2. 90% of lone-parent families are lone mothers.
- The belief women are suited to the ‘expressive role’ – divorce courts give them custody.
- Men may be less willing to give up work.
3. ‘Single by choice’
- Mothers may not want to cohabit / marry – may limit fathers involvement.
Cashmore: W/C women may choose to live on benefits due to experiencing domestic abuse.
Renvoize: Professional women can support child w/o father’s involvement.
4. A child living with a lone-parent is twice as likely to be in poverty comparably
Murray: the growth of lone parent families is due to:
- An overgenerous welfare state = dependency culture + ‘perverse incentive’ (reward for irresponsibility)
H  welfare benefits are not generous, lone-parent families more likely to be in poverty, lack of affordable
childcare prevents w/c parents working.

Stepfamilies, Ethnic Differences, and the Extended Family

When two families join together after one / both partners have been divorced
Stepfamilies - Factors that cause rise in lone-parent families also lead to stepfamilies.
(reconstituted Ferri + Smith: the involvement of parents in childcare is positive but stepfamilies are at
families) greater risk of poverty.
Allan + Crow: stepfamilies may face particular problems w divided loyalties can = tension
When three of more generations live together in one household
- Parsons: in modern society, the nuclear family replaces the extended family
- Charles: The extended family is ‘extinct’
The Extended - Wilmott: we now have a ‘dispersed extended family’ – relatives maintain contact
Family through visits + phone calls
- Chamberlain - Caribbean families in Britain: despite geographical barriers, they
continued to provide support with close + frequent contact.
- Bell: W/C (emotional) + M/C (financial father + son) families had emotional bonds.
 Families and Households
Topic 5
Finch + Mason: over 90% of people had given / received financial help + 50% cared for a
Obligations to sick relative – more expected from females.
Relatives Cheal: when it comes to domestic help – given first by spouse, then daughter, then
daughter-in-law, then son, then other relatives, then non-relatives – evidence of patriarchy
Black Families:
Black Caribbean + Black African families have higher proportions of lone parent
households.
Explanations:
1. High rate of female-headed families
- Traced back to slavery – couples were sold separately + kids stayed with mother –
established pattern of family life.
H  historically inaccurate
2. Male unemployment + poverty has meant black men are unable to provide for their
Ethnic family = higher rates of desertion / marital breakdown
Differences in H  assumes black men are the breadwinner + that they’ll abandon their families
Family EVAL:
Patterns - Mirza: higher rate of lone-parent families reflects the high value black women place on
independence
- Reynolds: stats are misleading in that many ‘lone’ parents are in stable non-
cohabitating relationships.
Asian Families:
Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian households tend to be larger than those of other groups
- Reflects the value placed on the extended family in Asian Cultures
H  may not be the case for all Asian families
Ballard: the extended family ties provided an important source of support among Asian
migrants during the 1950s + 60s.