Changing Family Patterns (AQA A Level Sociology): Flashcards

False.

Shelton and John found that cohabiting women do less housework than married women, indicating greater equality.

Beaujouan and Ní Bhrolcháin (2011) argue that cohabitation acts as a 'screening process' for weaker relationships.

Smart and Stevens described cohabiting couples as 'testing the water', seeing cohabitation as a step towards marriage.

Morgan claimed that cohabiting couples are less happy and fulfilled than married couples.

True.

Declining religious influence has made living together socially acceptable, especially among the non-religious.

More than half of children in England and Wales are now born outside marriage, compared with about one in five in 1986.

False.

The fertility rate fell from its 1964 peak to 1.41 children per woman in 2024, the lowest on record.

Couples are choosing fewer children because of the high cost of raising a family and lifestyle choices.

Functionalists see delayed childbearing and smaller families as rational adaptations to modern economic demands.

Feminists view delayed childbearing as empowering for women, allowing them independence and career success.

A lone-parent family is where one parent lives with their child or children without a partner present.

Murray argues that lone-parent families have increased because an over-generous welfare state rewards 'irresponsible' behaviour, creating a 'perverse incentive' to become a single parent.

Cashmore found that some working-class mothers chose to live on benefits rather than with a partner who might offer little support.

False.

Feminists see lone-parent families as evidence of women's independence, as they are no longer forced to stay in unhappy or abusive relationships.

Most lone-parent families are headed by mothers because women are often seen as more suited to the expressive or nurturing role, so they are more likely to receive custody after divorce.

From the personal life perspective, lone-parent families should not be seen as 'broken' families.

A reconstituted family is formed when one or both partners bring children from previous relationships into a new family unit.

Most stepfamilies include children from the mother's previous relationship because, after separation or divorce, children are far more likely to live with their mothers.

False.

The New Right claims stepfamilies are less stable than nuclear families because of divided roles and responsibilities.

Feminists say stepfamilies place an extra domestic and emotional burden on women, who are expected to care for both biological children and stepchildren.

Stepfamilies are at higher risk of poverty because step-parents may need to support both biological children and stepchildren, and the costs of maintaining multiple households add pressure.

The long-term divorce trend in the UK since 1961 is that divorces rose sharply after the 1960s to a peak of 165,018 in 1993, then fell to 80,057 in 2022, still well above pre-1960 levels.

The Divorce Reform Act allowed divorce on the basis of 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' from 1971.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020) introduced no-fault divorce.

Fletcher argued that marriage is now based on personal fulfilment and romantic love, so people are less willing to stay in unhappy marriages.

True.

Wives petitioned for 62% of opposite-sex divorces, as women are less willing to tolerate dissatisfaction.

The triple shift is women's paid work, domestic labour and emotional work, which contributes to marital dissatisfaction.

A 'pure relationship' is one based on emotional satisfaction rather than duty.

False.

Functionalists see high divorce rates as reflecting higher expectations of marriage; high remarriage rates show continued commitment.

Hochschild found that women feel more valued at work but face frustration at home because of men's resistance to housework.

Smart views divorce as one of many life transitions that does not necessarily harm the family.

Rising divorce has led to more lone-parent families and reconstituted families.

False.

Men are more likely to lose emotional support, while women are often better supported by strong social networks.

Fathers4Justice campaign about the lack of legal rights for fathers to maintain contact with their children.

Divorce can bring emotional relief when a marriage was unhappy or abusive.

Divorce often leads to financial hardship because assets are divided and households have less income, leaving lone parents especially vulnerable to poverty.