A reason in particular that nuclear families are no longer the norm is that, divorce rate has increased. Research shows that now 40% of marriages now end in divorce. This leads to lone-parent families and re-constituted families. However, a sociologist may also argue that nuclear families are still by far the most common type of family in Britain and therefore are the ‘norm’. Secondly, feminism is another reason that some people believe that nuclear families are no longer the norm.
Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage and cohabitation in the last 40 years or so. (24 marks) Over the last 40 years or so, there has been a huge increase in divorce which has fundamentally led to changes in patterns of marriage and cohabitation which has overall resulted in an increase in family diversity. There has been an increase in divorce by the actual numbers of divorces rising from 25,000 in 1961 to 146,000 in 1997. This could be due to the introduction of the Divorce Reform Act 1969. This has made divorce easier to obtain which has overall contributed to the decline in marriage.
The divorce act made irretrievable breakdown a justifiable reason as to why someone would request a divorce. This caused a large peak in divorce. The idea that marriage is a stable life-choice has now began to decrease for many people. If their partner was not suitable, or they just weren’t in ‘love’ anymore, divorce became a very easily availability, which is another factor for the rise in cohabitation and the decrease in marriage. Secularisation (decreased value of religion in society) has had a large impact on marriage and cohabitation.
a) Outline and Explain reasons for the growth in singlehood in the contemporary UK. [15] Singlehood in the UK has grown over the years, for example, women born between 1946 and 1950, only 7% remained unmarried, however women born between 1961 and 1965, 28% of women remained unmarried, with a similar trend for men. The growth for singlehood could be for a number of different reasons. People are now taking advantage of the new divorce law, and the changing views on singlehood. People are also expecting more from marriage, and women especially are choosing to live alone due to feminist views.
The Great Depression was over and people were getting back on their feet; the unemployment rate dropped from an extremely high 23% during the Depression to a much lower rate of around 4.4% during the later fifties . The demand for more and more immigrants increased, and in 1967, a point system was introduced to allow the admittance of immigrants, based on their education, occupation, age, and language ability . This greatly decreased the amount of bias towards certain ethnic groups, and opened doors for many immigrants worldwide. The system is still in effect, decades later, demonstrating the great success it has received. Something that has also changed since the war is Canada’s refugee policy.
The per capita immigration rate in Canada has been pretty constant since the 1950s, and recent years have seen a gradual increase in the skill level and education of immigrants to Canada. Over the last 25 years the economic position of newcomers to Canada relative to the native population has gradually declined. In 2007 a statistics study on Canada shows that the income profile of recent immigrants has fallen by a substantial amount from 2000 to 2004. Recent immigrants themselves are far more likely than native born Canadians to initially have low incomes, with income and employment rates increasing towards the national average with more time spent in Canada. This is slowing down the amount of Immigration.
In the article “The Truth about Marriage” it talks about how the age people get married has changed a great amount. In the past, most Americans would be more likely to more to marry in their teens and early twenties. In 1970 and on, the ages of people getting marries had risen. Today, the most common ages is close to 29 for men and close to 27 for women. Another common aspect of American life now, is people rejecting marriage.
There has been a decrease in the number of nuclear families in the UK and an increase in various other families such as single parent families. But the raise in single parent households has to do with the increase in divorce across the UK which means that more people are left having to support their children on their own unless they become a reconstituted family. Functionalists are classed as modernists when it comes to their opinions on family diversity in post-modern UK. But they also see modern society as clear-cut, fixed and predictable. They think that the best and strongest family type is the nuclear family.
Remarriages are 50% more likely to divorce in the first five years compared to first marriages. There are a numbers of factors that contribute to this trend and cause the home to be unstable. The children feel at fault for their parents break-up, the stepchildren are constantly trying to figure out their position in the family structure, some children show hostility towards the stepparent and both stepparents tend to show favoritism towards their own children. Unfortunately, the women and children are the ones that suffer the most economically and academically because according to the AACC, Only Mise 3 half of the divorced men in America pay their full child support responsibility, one- quarter make partial inconsistent payment, and one-quarter pays nothing at all. Also, children of divorced parents drop out of school at twice the rate of children from
According to Divorce Rate, “between the ages of 20 to 29 the divorce rate is greater than couples 30 and older.” Some statistics say at least 66 percent of younger couples end up divorced because of childless issues. The only thing that tends to hold the marriage together would be love. Yet, some say that love tends to fade. While others say the contrary. Couples that have children tend to have a lower divorce rate.