Social Trends indicate more variety of Families and Households
Official Social Trends statistics clearly show that the variety of family types has increased in Britain since the mid 20th century.
1. There were 24.4 million households in the UK in 2002 - up by a third since 1971.
2. The average size household is getting smaller. The number of households made up of 5 or more people has fallen from 14% in 1971 to 7% in 2002.
3. You might think that more small households means more nuclear families. However, the percentage of households which are nuclear families has fallen from 33% in 1971 to 25% in 2002.
4. Two of the biggest increases have been in single person households and lone parent family households. This explains why the average size of households has got smaller.
5. There's been an increase in the proportion of families which are reconstituted families. There are more reconstituted families now that there is more divorce. In 2001-2, 8% of all households were reconstituted families.
The two overall patterns are:
1. There's been an increase in the diversity of families in the UK. There are more different kinds of family.
2. Nuclear family is still the most common type of family, even though the proportion of nuclear families is going down. In 2002, 78% of children lived in nuclear families.
Class, Ethnicity and Sexuality Affect Which Types of Family You Experience
Eversley and Bonnerjea (1892) found middle class areas in the UK have a higher than average proportion of nuclear families. Inner-city working class areas are more likely to have higher proportion of lone-parent households.
Lesbian and gay families have been hidden from the statistics. The official definition of a couple has only included same-sex couples siince 1998.
The study of ethnic minorities by Modood et al (1997) found that:
1. Whites and Afro-Caribbeans were most likely to be divorced. Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and African Asians were most likely to be married.
2. Caribbean households were the most likely to be lone-parent families.
3. South Asian families are traditionally extended families, but there are no more nuclear family households than in the past. Extended kinship links stay strong and often reach back to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
4. There's diversity within each ethnic group though.
Fewer People Marry and More People Live Together Instead
In 2001 the lowest number of marriages took place in the UK since records began.
1. Over the same period of time there's been an increase in the number of adults cohabitating. In 2001-2 a quater of all non-married adults aged 16-59 were cohabitating.
2. Social trends statistics show that living with a partner doesn't mean you won't get married - it's often just a delay in 'tying the knot'. A third of people who cohabitated with a partner went on to marry them.
3. The majority of people in the UK do marry but the proportion who are married at any one time has fallen.
These trends have developed because...
1. Men tend to die before women. Elderly widows make up a lot of single person households. There are more old people these days, so this helps explain why there are so many single person households.
2. New Right theorists believe that the decline in marriage means a decline in traditional family values. However, evidence suggests cohabiting families actually have similar norms and values to married ones.
3. Postmodern theorists say the role of intimate relationships has changed - the emphasis is less on having kids and more on self-expression and emotional fulfilment. Giddens (1992) says that people are getting more likely to have a series of cohabitations rather than a lifelong marriage, this is known as serial monogomy.
The UK has one of the Highest Divorce Rates in Europe
1. There's been a steady rise in divorce rate in most modern industrial societies.
2. The divorce rate is defined as the number of people per 1000 of the population who are divorced. In 2000, Britain's divorce rate was 2.6 compared to European average of 1.9.
3. Actual divorces in the UK rose from 25,000 in 1961 to 146,000 in 1997.
4. For every two marriages in Britain in 1991, there was one divorce.
5. The proportion of population who were divorces at any time was 1% in 1971 and 9% in 2000.
6. The average length of a marriage before it ends in divorce remained about the same - 12 years in 1963, 11 years in 2000.
7. Although the divorce rate is increasing, divorced people are marrying again. In 2001, 40% of all marriages were re-marriages.
There are several social, cultural and political factors needed to take into account when explaining why divorce is increasing in the UK.
1. Divorce has become easier to obtain.
2. Divorce is more socially acceptable.
3. Women may have higher expectations of marriage, and better employment opportunities may make them less financially dependent on their husbands.
4. Marriages are increasingly focused on individual emotional fulfilment.
5. The New Right believe that marriage is less supported by the state these days.
People are Having Fewer Children and Having them Later In Life
One very clear change in British family life is the decrease in the average number of children people have.
1. People are having fewer children. The average number of children per family was 2.4 in 1971 compared to 1.63 in 2001 (the lowest ever recorded).
2. Women are having children later. The average age of women at the birth of their first child was 24 in 1971 compared to 27 in 2001.
3. More people are not having children at all - 9% of women born in 1945 were childless at age 45 compared to 15% of women born in 1955.
Social changes have influenced these trends. Contraception is more readily available and women's roles are changing. The emphasis on the individual in post-idustrial society is a key factor. Children are expensive and time consuming, and couples may choose to spend their time and money in other ways. The conflict between wanting a successful working life and being a mum has made many women put off having children until later.
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Wednesday 14 October 2009
The Feminist Approach
The feminist approach is dedicated to bringing greater equality for women. Primarily in the choices they make about their bodies and lives.
This has had massive implications on sociology and on the way society is perceived and investigated. The reasons for this are because for many years sociology only studied men and male experience.
Most Feminists believe the Family Exploits and Oppresses Women
1. From a feminist perspective, the family helps to maintain the existing social order.
2. Feminists call the existing social order patriarchy. Patriarchy is the combination of systems, ideologies and cultural practices which make sure that men have power.
3. Feminist theory argues that the family supports and reproduces inequalities between men an women.
4. The idea is that women are oppressed because they're socialised to be dependent on men - and to put themselves in second place to men. The family has a central role in this socialisation - male and female roles and expectations are formed in the family and then carried on into wider society.
5. Feminist sociologists say that there's an ideology about men's roles and women's roles in the family.
ideology - is a set of ideas about the way things are and the way things ought to be.
This has had massive implications on sociology and on the way society is perceived and investigated. The reasons for this are because for many years sociology only studied men and male experience.
Most Feminists believe the Family Exploits and Oppresses Women
1. From a feminist perspective, the family helps to maintain the existing social order.
2. Feminists call the existing social order patriarchy. Patriarchy is the combination of systems, ideologies and cultural practices which make sure that men have power.
3. Feminist theory argues that the family supports and reproduces inequalities between men an women.
4. The idea is that women are oppressed because they're socialised to be dependent on men - and to put themselves in second place to men. The family has a central role in this socialisation - male and female roles and expectations are formed in the family and then carried on into wider society.
5. Feminist sociologists say that there's an ideology about men's roles and women's roles in the family.
ideology - is a set of ideas about the way things are and the way things ought to be.
Social Policies
Social policies in the UK
In the UK there are many social policies that include being able to marry only on person at a time, only someone of the opposite sex however civil partnership now exist.
Social policies that affect divorce include whether or not divorce is legal, the amount of time you have to stay married before divorce is possible and who gains custody of the children. This affects children by having to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16, not being able to work part time until they are 13 and full time until they are 16. A whole range laws to do with smoking, drinking, sexual behaviour and even going to the cinema.
Social policies that affect of welfare includes child benefits that all primary cares of children receive, benefits available to single parents, and unemployment, housing benefits and pensions.
Social policies that affect on domestic violence and child abuse includes the laws that protect all members of the family against violence and give the police and courts the power to intervene within the family, remove violent members and place children in care.
Social polices in other countries
In all countries have very different laws that affect the family and these laws are constantly changing to fit in with different circumstances and the political ambitions of the countries' leaders.
In Nazi Germany in the 1930s for example the government decided that only the 'racially pure' should be able to have children. Many of those who were not see as fit to breed, such as the mentally and physically handicapped, were compulsorily sterilised.
In Romania in the 1980s, the government tried to increase the birth rate by restricting contraception and abortion. They made marriage more financially attractive and restricted divorce.
In China they have a one child policy and couples that comply get higher tax allowances and other benefits.
Theoretical Views
Theoretical views on social policies are held by functionalists, the New Right and feminists.
Functionalist Views on social policy
Functionalists have generally taken a positive view on social policy. The welfare state takes a lot of pressure off the family with regard to education and health care, and allows the family to concentrate on socialisation and nurturing. Murdock argues that the modern family has four key functions an Parson argues it has two functions. The existence of the welfare state allows the family to concentrate on these key functions.
New Right Views on social policy
The New Right takes a negative view on many social policies as they see them as undermining the traditional nuclear family. they are particularly critical of welfare benefits that are given to single-parent families as they believe they encourage young women especially to become pregnant, knowing the state will look after then and their child. Single-parent family should be discouraged and the nuclear family encouraged. One way this would be to reduce or eliminate the benefits given to single parents whilst making nuclear family and marriage more financially attractive. The New Right are also critical of divorce laws as they believe divorce is too easy, and people need to be encouraged to work at their marriage and not take the 'easy option' of divorce.
Feminist Views on social policy
Feminist support benefits for single parents because most single parents are women. Most women do not want to be single parents but may have left abusive or empty shell marriages and should be supported by the state as feminists argue. If benefits for single parents are reduce then the children will suffer. Feminist are also in favour of the divorce laws because they enable women to free themselves from patriarchal control, and would welcome the recent civil partnership law which enables gay couples to gain similar legal rights to heterosexuals. They would obviously welcome the laws against domestic violence, but often question how useful they are if the police are sometimes reluctant to become involved. Feminist also argue the many social policies are sexist and stereotypical.
Marxist Views on social policy
Marxist focus on the inequalities that exist in society between the bourgeoisie or capitalists (owner of factories and business) and they proletariat or working class (everyone else). The relationship between these two groups is not equal as the working class are forced to sell their labour to the capitalists in return for money. The capitalist make profit as they pay the workers less than the value of what they produce. The role of social polices in all this complex and not all Marxists agree with each other. Marxist social polices such as free education, health care and the welfare state are the result of class struggle. In other words the working class have 'won' these benefits from the capitalist class who were afraid of the consequences if they did not give the working class a better quality life. For other Marxists social polices are just 'smokescreens' to make life appear better. Education and health care are free. Health care is also only provided free to enable the workers to get better as quickly as possible so they can get back to work ready to be exploited all over again! Welfare benefits are kept as low as possible to force people back to work, and only exist to prevent conflict and possible to revolution. State pensions in particular are very poor as elderly people are no longer of any benefit to capitalism and no longer have a purpose.
In the UK there are many social policies that include being able to marry only on person at a time, only someone of the opposite sex however civil partnership now exist.
Social policies that affect divorce include whether or not divorce is legal, the amount of time you have to stay married before divorce is possible and who gains custody of the children. This affects children by having to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16, not being able to work part time until they are 13 and full time until they are 16. A whole range laws to do with smoking, drinking, sexual behaviour and even going to the cinema.
Social policies that affect of welfare includes child benefits that all primary cares of children receive, benefits available to single parents, and unemployment, housing benefits and pensions.
Social policies that affect on domestic violence and child abuse includes the laws that protect all members of the family against violence and give the police and courts the power to intervene within the family, remove violent members and place children in care.
Social polices in other countries
In all countries have very different laws that affect the family and these laws are constantly changing to fit in with different circumstances and the political ambitions of the countries' leaders.
In Nazi Germany in the 1930s for example the government decided that only the 'racially pure' should be able to have children. Many of those who were not see as fit to breed, such as the mentally and physically handicapped, were compulsorily sterilised.
In Romania in the 1980s, the government tried to increase the birth rate by restricting contraception and abortion. They made marriage more financially attractive and restricted divorce.
In China they have a one child policy and couples that comply get higher tax allowances and other benefits.
Theoretical Views
Theoretical views on social policies are held by functionalists, the New Right and feminists.
Functionalist Views on social policy
Functionalists have generally taken a positive view on social policy. The welfare state takes a lot of pressure off the family with regard to education and health care, and allows the family to concentrate on socialisation and nurturing. Murdock argues that the modern family has four key functions an Parson argues it has two functions. The existence of the welfare state allows the family to concentrate on these key functions.
New Right Views on social policy
The New Right takes a negative view on many social policies as they see them as undermining the traditional nuclear family. they are particularly critical of welfare benefits that are given to single-parent families as they believe they encourage young women especially to become pregnant, knowing the state will look after then and their child. Single-parent family should be discouraged and the nuclear family encouraged. One way this would be to reduce or eliminate the benefits given to single parents whilst making nuclear family and marriage more financially attractive. The New Right are also critical of divorce laws as they believe divorce is too easy, and people need to be encouraged to work at their marriage and not take the 'easy option' of divorce.
Feminist Views on social policy
Feminist support benefits for single parents because most single parents are women. Most women do not want to be single parents but may have left abusive or empty shell marriages and should be supported by the state as feminists argue. If benefits for single parents are reduce then the children will suffer. Feminist are also in favour of the divorce laws because they enable women to free themselves from patriarchal control, and would welcome the recent civil partnership law which enables gay couples to gain similar legal rights to heterosexuals. They would obviously welcome the laws against domestic violence, but often question how useful they are if the police are sometimes reluctant to become involved. Feminist also argue the many social policies are sexist and stereotypical.
Marxist Views on social policy
Marxist focus on the inequalities that exist in society between the bourgeoisie or capitalists (owner of factories and business) and they proletariat or working class (everyone else). The relationship between these two groups is not equal as the working class are forced to sell their labour to the capitalists in return for money. The capitalist make profit as they pay the workers less than the value of what they produce. The role of social polices in all this complex and not all Marxists agree with each other. Marxist social polices such as free education, health care and the welfare state are the result of class struggle. In other words the working class have 'won' these benefits from the capitalist class who were afraid of the consequences if they did not give the working class a better quality life. For other Marxists social polices are just 'smokescreens' to make life appear better. Education and health care are free. Health care is also only provided free to enable the workers to get better as quickly as possible so they can get back to work ready to be exploited all over again! Welfare benefits are kept as low as possible to force people back to work, and only exist to prevent conflict and possible to revolution. State pensions in particular are very poor as elderly people are no longer of any benefit to capitalism and no longer have a purpose.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
The Marxist Approach
The Marxist approach to the family is that the family is the place of conflict where its the most vulnerable and weakest members (i.e children) are indoctrinated in accepting their place in an unequal and unjust society. The culture that is learnt here is the culture of the elites and the dominant classes.
Marxist Views
Sex, marriage and reproduction - they believe that monogamy is a way of ensuring men transmit ownership of private property to their offspring.
Socialisation and social control - they believe that this suppresses individuality to produce a compliant workforce that is passive, subservient and uncritical of the inequalities which rise capitalism.
Stabilisation - they believe that private life of the family provides the opportunities for satisfactions unavailable in work, thus cushioning the effects of capitalism.
Economic and welfare - they believe that the unit of consumption is essential to capitalist production. They also believe that the family responsibilities constrain men not to withdraw their labour.
Evaluation
There are many negatives with the Marxist view because it only concentrates on the effects of capitalism to the exclusion of other factors and they do not explain the similarities in capitalist with non-capitalist societies.
Karl Marx is the creator of the Marxist approach
Marxist Views
Sex, marriage and reproduction - they believe that monogamy is a way of ensuring men transmit ownership of private property to their offspring.
Socialisation and social control - they believe that this suppresses individuality to produce a compliant workforce that is passive, subservient and uncritical of the inequalities which rise capitalism.
Stabilisation - they believe that private life of the family provides the opportunities for satisfactions unavailable in work, thus cushioning the effects of capitalism.
Economic and welfare - they believe that the unit of consumption is essential to capitalist production. They also believe that the family responsibilities constrain men not to withdraw their labour.
Evaluation
There are many negatives with the Marxist view because it only concentrates on the effects of capitalism to the exclusion of other factors and they do not explain the similarities in capitalist with non-capitalist societies.
Karl Marx is the creator of the Marxist approach
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