Social Changes & Family Structures (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Sociology): Flashcards

The rise in cohabitation is linked to secularisation because, as religious influence declines, people no longer regard premarital sex as sinful, which makes cohabitation more acceptable.

More young people live alone because they remain single, choose never to marry, live alone before marrying or cohabiting, live apart from their partner or are international migrants.

Feminism and the changing position of women have led to more financially independent, career-focused women living alone.

False.

The high number of marriages ending in divorce may make people wary of marriage, particularly those whose parents have divorced.

Divorce is the legal ending of a marriage.

False.

Divorce statistics do not reveal empty-shell marriages, where couples stay married but the relationship has broken down.

The Divorce Reform Act allowed divorce on the basis of irretrievable breakdown of marriage, in cases of adultery, desertion, separation or unreasonable behaviour.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020) introduced no-fault divorce, so couples can divorce without blaming each other.

Changing social norms have contributed because divorce is less stigmatised, and people now see it as damaging for children to live amid conflict, rather than expecting couples to stay together for the children.

Secularisation has contributed because more couples marry in civil ceremonies, so fewer take sacred vows before God, which has weakened the religious barrier to divorce.

The changing position of women has contributed because more married women earn their own income, so they are less economically dependent on their husbands and do not have to stay in an unhappy marriage.

False.

The media emphasise romantic love, so people whose marriage does not live up to these high expectations are more likely to divorce.

Divorce divides assets such as property, so adults have less money coming in, and lone parents with dependent children are more likely to live in poverty.

Divorced people may remarry because they still believe in marriage, want a partner to help raise their children, or seek companionship and love.

Fathers4Justice points out that fathers do not have a legal right to contact with their children.

Feminists see a high divorce rate as desirable, because it shows women breaking free from the oppression of the patriarchal nuclear family.

False.

Functionalists argue that the high rate of remarriage shows that marriage remains popular and is still an ideal people aspire to.

Functionalist Ronald Fletcher argues that people expect more from marriage, so they are no longer prepared to stay in empty-shell marriages.

Marxists link divorce to a lack of resources, such as money and time, and to men's frustration at exploitation at work, which creates conflict at home.

The New Right argue that divorce undermines marriage and the traditional nuclear family, which they see as vital for raising stable children.

False.

The married couple family is still the most common family type: married couple families made up 65.3% of UK families in 2025 (Office for National Statistics, 2026).

A dual-career family is one where both parents have paid employment and each pursues an independent career; sociologists also call it a neo-conventional family.

Women in dual-career families may experience role conflict when the demands of their roles as parent and employee clash.

The number of reconstituted families fell because women are having their first baby later, so older couples are more likely to stay together, and lone parents tend to have living apart together relationships, which the census does not count as blended families.

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

Most lone-parent families are matrifocal, which means the mother heads them.

False.

The death of a parent was a more common cause in the past but is now far less common; divorce and separation are now the leading causes.

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

New Right thinker Murray argues that an over-generous welfare state rewards irresponsible behaviour, such as having children outside marriage.

Feminists argue that the New Right blames women rather than the many men who fail to provide financial or emotional support.

True.

In 2024/25, 41% of children in UK lone-parent families were in relative poverty after housing costs, compared with 23% in couple families (Department for Work and Pensions).

The fertility rate has declined, falling to 1.39 children per woman in 2025.

Many people choose to have fewer children so they can maintain their desired standard of living.

Secularisation has weakened the traditional belief that marriage and childbearing must go together, so fewer people follow religious teachings on having children.

The contraceptive pill in the 1960s and the legalisation of abortion in 1967 gave women more control over whether and when to have children.

False.

Functionalists argue that raising and socialising children remains central, and they see smaller families as rational adaptations to modern economic demands.