Sociology- Parterships

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  • Created by: Daisymac
  • Created on: 14-03-19 08:39
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  • Partnerships
    • Marriage
      • Fewer people are marrying
      • More re-marriages
        • In 2012 1/3 of all marriages were remarriages
      • People are marrying later
        • 1971=22.6 years old for women
        • 2018 30.8
      • Couples are less likely to marry in a church
        • 1981= 60% church
        • 2012= 30% Church
    • Reasons for changing marriage patterns
      • Changing attitudes to marriage- Less pressure to marry and more freedom to choose what type of relationship they want. Nowadays the quality of a relationship is more important than legal status
      • Secularization-  Churches like marriage but they now have less influence
      • Declining stigma attached to alternatives to marriage- Cohabitation, remaining single and having children outside marriage are widely acceptable
      • Changes in the position of women- Better educational and career prospects-- Less economically dependent on men
      • Fear of divorce- Some put off marriage as there is a higher likelihood of divorce
      • Remarriages- due to the rise in divorce = rise in remarriage
      • Age on marrying - Young people are postponing marriage to spend more time in education
      • Church weddings- Less likely due to secularization and many churches refuse to marry divorcees
    • Cohabitation
      • Involves an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
      • Cohabiting couples with children are growing
      • I in 8 couples are cohabiting
    • Reasons for increased cohabitation
      • Decline in stigma attached to sex outside marriage
      • Young more likely to accept cohabitation
      • Increased career opportunities for women may mean they have less need for financial security of marriage
      • Secularization- Young people with no religion are more likely to cohabit
    • Relationship between cohabitation and marriage
      • cohabitation increasing and marriage decreasing-- But not so clear cut
      • Chester argues that for most people,cohabitation is part of the process of getting married
      • Coast 2006 75% of cohabiting couples expect to marry each other
    • A trial marriage
      • Many see cohabitation as a trial marriage to see if the marriage will go well
      • Cohabitation is a temporary phase before marriage
      • Some see it as a permanent alternative to marriage
      • Bejin 1985 argues that cohabitation for young people represents a conscious effort to attempt to create a more equal relationship
      • Shelton and John 1993 found that women who cohabit do less housework then their married counterparts
    • Same sex relationships
      • Stonewall 2012 estimates that about 5-7% of the adult population has same sex relationships
      • Increased social acceptance of same sex relationships
      • Social policy now treats couples more equally- eg same sex marriage 2014,  2004 civil partnership act gave same sex couple rights
    • Chosen families
      • Weeks 1999 argues that increased social acceptance may explain a trend towards same sex cohabitation
        • Sees gays as creating families on the idea of 'friendship as kinship' and they become chosen family that provides the same security and stability as heterosexual families
      • Weston 1992 describes same sex cohabitation as quasi marriage and notes that many gay couples are now deciding to cohabit as stable partners.
      • Allan and Crow argue that because of the absence of legal framework until recently, same sex partners had to negotiate  their commitment and responsibilities more heterosexual couples
      • Einasdottir 2011 argues that while many homosexuals welcome the opportunity to have their partnership legally recognize, others fear it may limit the flexibility and negotiability of relationships as they don't want to accept heterosexual norms
    • One person households
      • Big increase
      • 40% of lone households are over 65
      • By 2033 over 30% of adult population will be single
      • Due to increase in divorce
      • Less marriage/marrying later
      • May just want to live alone
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