1. Changing family …

2. More births outside marriage…
• Approximately four in every ten births (44% in 2006 are
now outside marriage, about 5 times more than the
proportion in 1971. Despite the record numbers of
children the parents registered being born outside
marriage, about 85% of those births in 2006 jointly.
Two out of three of these cases gave the same address,
this suggests that the parents were cohabiting and
despite them not being married they write being born
into a stable couple relationship. In the case of the
increase of births outside of marriage the reasons for
this increase are very similar those for the divorce rate,
the decline in the marriage rate and the increase in
cohabitation.

3. The growth in ‘singlehood’-
Living alone …
In 1901 1 in 20 households contained only one
person. Now around 1 in 3 houses contain one
person. Over half of these people are in their 60’s, where
as in 1971 around two-thirds were in their 60’s showing
that there has been a growth in younger people living
alone. The decline in marriage, the rise in divorce and
separation and the fact that people are delaying marriage
or cohabitation until they are older can explain this trend.
There are now almost twice as many men as women living
alone between the ages of 25 and 44, however there are
twice as many women as men aged 65+, this because
women tend to live longer than men which explains the
high number of one pensioner households.

4. The decline in marriage and the
growing incidence and acceptance of
cohabitation
• Two major changes in society at the turning of the twentieth century as well as within the family, they
are the decline of marriage and the growth of couples living together before or outside marriage.
• In Britain it is evident that marriage rates are declining as there are more and more couples cohabiting and
not marrying. We know this as in 2005 there were 244,710 marriages in Britain and Wales, which is
around 19% fewer than in 1991. Evidence from polls and data have shown that in Britain over a quarter of
the males and females under the age of 60 were cohabiting between the years of 2005 and 2006 which
has doubled when measured around 20 years ago. Some of them of them included people who were
separated but not divorced.
• By the early 2000’s cohabitation was the norm rather than the expected as the majority or couples in their
first marriage had been living together. Research has shown that over 1 million and a half cohabiting
couples have refused to get married and unmarried cohabiting couples are now bringing up 11% of
dependant children. Around 60% of first time cohabitations turn into marriages.
• There are some reasons for the decline of marriage and the growing cohabitation some of these are:
• The changing role of women has had an impact on the changes in marriage and cohabitation. This is
because women’s economic independence has given them to choose their relationships more freely.
• The increase of divorce is sending out a negative message to potential marriage couples.
• The reduction in social stigma and changing social attitudes some examples of this is that younger people
are more likely to cohabit than older people. In effect this does prove the perception that older people
might see living together outside of marriage in wrong compared to younger people. This shows
cohabitation is more accepted which may cause a further increase.
• There are also further factors such as the greater availability of a more effective contraception and the
higher expectations of marriage.

5. The changing position of children
• The Causes of child centredness
• Families have got smaller since the end of the 19th century, and this means that more individual care and attention can be
devoted to each child.
• In the 19th century, the typical working week was between 70 and 80 hours for many working-class people. Today it is more
like 44 hours (including overtime), and it getting shorter. this means parents have more time to spend with their children.
• Increased affluence, with higher wages and higher standard of living, children have benifited as more money can be spent on
them.
• The welfare states provides a wide range of benefits designed to help parents care for their children, and has increased
demands on parents to care for their children properly.
• Paediatrics, or the science of childhood, has developed this century, with a wide range of research and popular books
suggesting how parents should bring up their children to encourage their full development.
• Compulsary education and more time in secondary education meant young people are dependant on their parents for
longer. Tuition fees for higher education and the abolishment of students grant has extended this period of time.
• Chidrens lives have become moe complex, with more educational, medical and leisure services for them.
• Griwing dangers and parental fears mean more children always travel with parents rather than letting them roam around.
• Large businesses have encoured a specific childhood comsumer market to encourage children to consume and parents to
spend to satisfy their childrens needs. eg Toys” r” Us and mothercare.
• Is childhood disappearing?
• Despite the growth of child-centredness, we need to be aware of the way children are bieng exposed to a range of
experiences that we they share with adults, such as the mass media eg. television, videos, internet and dvds. – this may be
eroding the cutural divisions between childhood and adult status.
• Postman(1994) was concerned with the disappearence of childhood. He argues that the disinction between adults and
children is disappearing and that the merging of taste and style of children and adults, making the features indistinguishable
.
• Children at a young age are more concerned about adult themes out of thier controll eg. climate change.
• Cunningham (2005) argues that parental authority has been undermined by children having pocket money from parents or
part time work, reducing their dependency and turining them into consumers, who demand access to the adult world
earlier.

6. The emergence of the symmetrical
family?
• There is the common belief that since the middle of the 20th century, the
relations between male and female partners in family life in Britain have become
less patriarchal and become much more symmetrical. The assumption is shift
from segregated conjugal roles to more integrated conjugal roles.
• Different types of roles :
• What is Conjugal roles ? : - simply means the roles played by a male and
female partner in marriage or cohabiting relationship.
•
what is Segregated conjugal roles? : - shows a clear division and separation
between the male and female roles (Parsons sexual division of labour
`
• What is Integrated conjugal roles ? : show few divisions between male and
female partners ’roles’
•