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Family, diversity and demographics - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Statistics
        
        In 1972, a record number of 480,000 couples got married in the UK but in 2009 there was a record low of 231,490 couples getting married
        
        The mean age for women to get married in 1972 was 22.9 and 24.9 for men however in 2012 the average age for women was 30.3 and 32.4 for men
        
        An increasing proportion of marriages in 2012 were remarriages
      - Why is there a decrease in marriage?
        
        Changing social attitudes
        
        In 1989 a survey was conducted by the British social attitudes survey showing 71% of people strongly agreed with the statement "people who want children ought to get married" however the same survey was done in 2012 and this number decreased to 42%
        
        Views on sex before marriage changed with 75% in 2012 saying it isn't wrong
        
        In 1960, if a couple had a child outside of marriage they were expected to get married or put the child up for adoption
        
        The decline of family values
        
        New right thinkers argue the declining popularity in marriage is referred to as 'traditional family values' weakening
        
        Patricia Morgan (2000) : The Government have given insufficient support to marriage as an institution and in terms of financial support through the tax and benefit system for married couples bringing up children
        
        Individualism
        
        Beck and Beck (1995) : These changes reflect the growing trend of individualisation
        
        Individuals are no longer bound to social norms, instead seek to fulfil their lives, therefore, alternatives such as cohabitation offers more freedom
        
        Giddens (????) : In late modernity there has been a transformation of intimacy
        Individuals are no longer craving romantic love, but rather there's a growth in confluent love
        Giddens feels the quality of intimate relationships is improving since women are no longer stuck in unhappy relationships
        
        Changing roles of women
        
        Greer (2000) : Sees the decline of marriage as a positive thing resulting in women's unwillingness to be oppressed by their husbands
        
        Sue Sharpe carried out two studies of working class girls in the 1970s and 1990s. Her first study in 1976 said girls were more focused on love, marriage and family whereas in 1994 girls were more ambitious and confident who focused on education and careers
    - - Statistics
        
        ONS found the number of couples cohabiting had doubled since 1996
        
        In 1936, only 4% of babies were born outside of marriage however in 2012 this had risen to 47.5%
        
        Beaujouan and Bhrolchain (2011) : Cohabitation before marriage helps to strengthen a marriage and makes it less likely to end in divorce
      - Why is there an increase in cohabitation?
        
        Same as decrease in marriage
    - - Why is there an increase in divorce?
        
        Declining in stigma and changing attitudes
        
        Divorce was stigmatised negatively = church would condemn divorce and those re-marrying
        
        Mitchell and Goody (1997) : Important change since the 1960's has been rapid decline in stigma attached to divorce = as stigma declines more couples are willing to get divorced rather than solving their problems
        
        Women's increased financial independence
        
        Women can now earn equal pay to men and girls academic success allows them to get good paying jobs
        
        Allan and Crow (????) : The family used to be a means of production in society - not anymore because family do not economically depend on each other anymore
        
        Secularisation
        
        Many sociologists argue that society is becoming more secular. E.g. Church attendance has declined
        
        Couples are less likely to be influenced by church = more likely to get a divorce
        
        Churches have begun to soften their views on divorce = they fear losing credibility in society
        
        Rising expectations of marriage
        
        Fletcher (1966) : People have higher expectations of marriage and are willing to get a divorce if unhappy
        
        Couples marrying solely based on love, if the love dies then the marriage should end - Giddens : "Love is until further notice"
        
        In the past, individuals had no control on who they married - did not have high expectation = unlikely to be upset about lack of love in marriage
        
        Fletcher (1966) : Today's relationships are based on personal fulfilment - if this is not achieved = divorce
        
        Functionalists criticise Fletcher's view as too optimistic = reality of marriage is that majority of the time it ends in divorce
        
        Modernity and individualism
        
        Beck and Giddens (1992) : In modern society traditional norms such as the duty to stay with the same partner has lost its influence
        
        As a result, each individual becomes free to pursue his or her own self-interest - this is the 'individualisation thesis'
        
        Relationships have become more fragile and individuals are now unwilling to remain with their partner is the relationship fails to succeed
      - Statistics
        
        In 1960 there were 23,668 divorces in England + Wales
        
        In 1993 there were 165,018 divorces
        
        In 2012 there were 118,148 divorces
        
        In 2020 there were 103,592 divorces granted in England and Wales, a decrease of 4.5% compared with 2019, where 98.9% of those were opposite-sex couples
        
        The ONS estimates that 42% of current marriage will end in divorce
- - - - Declining mortality Infant mortality decreased due to better healthercare. In 1901, 25% of deaths were babies under one year whereas in 2005 they accounted for less than 1%. This means families no longer need larger families as infant mortality has decreased
      - Economic factors In the nineteenth century, many children were regarded as an asset and used for work to bring in money for the household. Due to changes in law this is no longer the case.
      - Women’s opportunities As opportunities for women have increased, there are many other options other than marriage and childbearing available so women may wait until after they have completed their education before having children
      - Changing social attitudes Up until the late 19th century, larger families were seen as desirable but from 1870s onwards society saw smaller families as a way of improving living standards
      - Individualisation Beck and Beck (1995) : Individuals increasingly seek a life of their own in which they can construct their own lifestyle and are no longer tied to traditional norms. They also refer to the importance of risk in modern society, suggesting individuals seek to control and reduce risk. More people avoid the risk of commitment by cohabiting or staying single, some argue children are added risk
      - Contraception and abortion In the twentieth century, contraception became more socially acceptable and available which meant couples are now able to plan when to have a child. In 1968, abortion was legalised for the first time in England and Wales under the 1967 abortion act.
    - - The family Smaller families means women can be dual workers
      - The dependency ratio The dependency ratio is the ratio between those who are working and those who are not working (children+ ageing population). Children take up most of the ratio so parents may have less children to avoid ‘dependency burden’.
      - Public services + policies Due to larger ratio dependency, it puts pressure on public services as there will be more ageing population and not enough workers. Less children may also mean schools are shut down or smaller classes
  - - - Improved medical attention The main cause of deaths in the nineteenth century was diseases and due to medical technology we have developed vaccines to combat this
      - Longer life expectancy As people are living longer than beforehand so people aren’t dying as often
  - - - Increased life expectancy People are living longer so the ageing population increases
      - Improved healthcare This helps with increasing life expectancy
      - Declining fertility Fewer young people are being born = in relation to the number of old people in the population
    - - Public services
      - Dependency ratio
- - - - Ballard (1982) : When South Asian families first settled down in the UK, from 1950s onwards they tended to bring the traditions of family life from their country origin. These include:
        
        A preference for larger multi generational households
        
        Tradtional gender roles
        
        A sense of family honour (referred to as izzat)
        
        A preference of marriage to be arranged
      - More recently there is evidence of change among South Asian families
        
        Evidence of divorce and lone parenthood are starting to increase in South Asian communities
        
        Berthoud (2001) : South Asian people remain more traditional than white people, with couples being more likely to marry and marry earlier and less likely to cohabit
        
        Platt (2009) : Family size also remains larger in South Asian communities with only 16% of white hoiseholds containing 4 or more people compared to 43z of Pakistani and 49% of Bangladeshi households.
    - - Berthoud + Beishon (1997) : Found much lower rates of formal marriage among British African-caribbeans and higher rates of divorce and separation
        
        Lone parent families are more common
      - Chamberlain (1999) : Found that extended family members, especially sisters and brothers, often provide to support lone parents
      - Reynolds (2002) : Noted the existence of visiting relationships where lone mothers would have a male partner who visited them frequently
    - - Berthoud (2001) : Suggest families can be placed on a scale ranging from old-fashioned values to modern individualism. Berthoud argues when consderijg the main ethnic groups in the UK, African-caribbean communities are furthest along the road to individualism while South Asian communities tend to maintain more traditional
      - Mann (2009) : Criticised Berthoud saying some parts of the British African-caribbean family such as lone parenthood, cohabitation and childbearing outside of marriage reflect patterns that are tradtional in many parts of the Caribbean