Alice Thorpe Exam Examining changing family patterns (a) Explain what is meant by serial monogamy (2 marks) When

n a person has a series of marriages, divorces and remarriages. For example, when a man gets divorced and then remarried to another woman, sometimes this can be repeated several times. (b) Identify two reasons for the trend towards getting married later in life (4 marks) They have children before getting married and push the wedding off until later because it's more acceptable now to have children outside of marriage. They live like married couples before getting married - cohabit. Women are more independent than they used to be. They can have their own good-paying job, house, car, everything, and society doesn't stigmatise them for this unlike they would have been in the past.

(c) Suggest three reasons for the increase in the number of divorces (6 marks)
Ease of divorce - the stigma of divorce is greatly reduced in society today, so people no longer feel ashamed to be divorced. Religion is a big reason for this change of stigma as there is also a decline in religion.

Change in attitudes - some sociologists argue that marriage is highly valued in society, partly due to the image the media present of marriage as based on romance and happiness. People now demand more from marriage and if it does not live up to the ideal they hold then they will get divorced and try again - this explains the growing number of remarriages. The changing role of women - approx. 70% of divorces are initiated by women. Women today are more likely to be independent - with a good education, fewer children and a job. If they are unhappy in a marriage it is easier for them to leave and start again.

Essay: Examine changes in the patterns of childbearing and childrearing in the UK since the 1970s. Before 1970, although the child protection act had lowered the amount of children a couple could have, there was a need for many children in a family. This was because after the first and second world war, there were many deaths across the country, and to replace them children were to be born. When the soldiers got back from war they came home to their wives which in the long term resulted in more births in the UK. Since the 1970s, there has been less of a need to have as many children because many things have changed since the war. The 1970s rise in lone motherhood was largely a consequence of increasing divorce rates. From the mid-1980s onwards it was more associated with

Alice Thorpe childbearing outside of marriage. In 1991-3, 40% of mothers in lone mother families had never been married compared to only 18% in 1973-5. Divorce has replaced widowhood as the main cause of lone motherhood. The growth of cohabitation also contributed to the rise. Since the war, women have now had the right to vote, opportunities to reach further education and are now being paid to work. There was a major change of attitude to the role of the women in the house after the war because more families were single parent due to the death of a husband in the war. It was easier to get a divorce out of a relationship that wasnt working and women after 1967 had the choice to have a child or to abort. This gave women a lot more freedom and rights to do what they wanted to in life. For many women, a family was not at the top of the list; many women wanted to work and achieve what they wanted to do than settle down to have a family of a smaller size because the need for many children had decreased. Infant mortality rate lowered a lot of births in the UK because more were successful and more children were surviving. This caused more parents to have fewer children so they can focus their love and attention on the children they have. When the IMR was high in the UK, the parent would have many children for work purposes and they would not care if the one child died because they had, for example, six more children to replace that one. Children were used as slaves to bring money to the family, but since the act that stopped children working under a certain age was in place, children were then becoming the centre of the home child centred. The parents would see their child more and the child would then need the mother or father to help them when they were at home. Health was improving along with improved housing and better sanitation such as toilets and fresh water. This reduced the amount of disease and infection that would spread across the country. Throughout the country in the 19th century, children were becoming important to the country; they were the future, the ones who would bring in money for everyone, so laws were introduced to better the children. Child labour was banned and compulsory education was introduced. These lead the children to be dependant on the parent for longer. Also changing the norms of what children were expected to do were slowly changing and parents were expected to care and provide for their children. This lead to finical pressure, which would stop parents having so many children. The final factor for the change of childbearing and childrearing is the total fertility rate. As there were more protection acts, more rights for women etc, the TFR was also increasing. Women were now able to choose when to have children instead of worrying if they were too old to have children. Women postpone having children to an average age of 29 and fertility rates for women in their 30s is increasing so many women can have children later in life. Changes in the patterns of childbearing and childrearing in the UK since the 1970s are that IMR, due to better hygiene and nutrient, has increased; the changes of the position

Alice Thorpe of women has meant equality for both genders; the TFR has increased and allows women to choose when they want to have children; children are now the child centre of a family, and finally children have become an economic liability. All of these factors have dramatically changed the way children are raised and born in the UK and since 1970 this change compared to the old traditional way of childbearing and childrearing is dramatically different.