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AQA Alevel sociology- families and households topic 5
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Concise topic 5 notes: changing family patterns
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Parents and Children:TASK 1a: Childbearing patterns
There are four main childbearing patterns to be aware of. Find and write down one fact or statistic for each.
Childbearing pattern: Fact or statistic:
Increasing number of children born Nearly half (47%) of all children are now born outside marriage: over twice as many as in 1986
outside of marriage
Women are having children later between 1971 and 2012, their average age at the birth of their first child rose by four years to 28.1 years
Women are having fewer children The average number of children per woman fell from a peak of 2.95 in 1964 to a record low of 1.63 in 2001,
rising somewhat to a peak of 1.94 in 2010.
More women are remaining childless It is predicted that a quarter of those born in 1973 will be childless when they reach the age of 45.
TASK 1b: Reasons for the changing patterns in childbearing.
Reasons Key points of this reason (AO1) Evidence/ studies/ thinkers (AO2)
1. Decline in stigma and increase The stigma previously linked with cohabitation has For example, only 28% of 25-34 year olds now think
in cohabitation decreased and so the idea of people living together marriage should come before parenthood
without being married, despite having children, is
more socially acceptable.
2. Women have more options than Many are seeking to establish themselves in a between 1971 and 2012, their average age at the birth
just motherhood career before starting a family, or instead of having of their first child rose by four years to 28.1 years
children at all.
TASK 1c: Application (AO2) - Live births by registration
Analyse the figure below and answer the following questions.
, 1. Approximately what percentage of births were solely registered by the mother alone in 2012? 31%
2. By about how many percentage points did the births that were jointly registered increase between 1986 and 2012? 20%
TASK 2a: Lone-parent families
One parent families now make up 22% of all family with children. One child in four lives in a lone-parent family.
Characteristics of lone-parent families
1. Over 90% of these families are headed by lone mothers.
2. Until the early 1990s, divorced women were the biggest group
of lone mothers. From the early 1990s, single (never married)
women became the biggest group of lone mothers
3. A child living with a lone parent is twice as likely to be in poverty
as a child living with two parents.
TASK 2b: Reasons for the patterns
Reasons Key points of this reason (AO1) Evidence/ studies/ thinkers (AO2)
1. Increase in divorce and More marriages are ending in divorce so women Nearly half (47%) of all children are now born outside
separation feel they shouldn’t get married as they are scared marriage: over twice as many as in 1986
that it will only lead to them getting divorced or
separated.
2. Decline in stigma There is a decline in stigma (negative views For example, only 28% of 25-34 year olds now think
associated with births outside marriage). Children marriage should come before parenthood
outside of wedlock have become more socially
acceptable so women do not feel the urgency or
necessity to get married as a result.
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