1. Family and household structure Part 2
Joan Garrod
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2. Divorce
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that about 42% of marriages now end in divorce.
However, the divorce rate (the number of divorces per 1,000 married men or women) is decreasing.
Figures from 2014 (the latest available) show a divorce rate of 9.8 per 1,000 married people — the lowest level since 1975.
The 2014 figures show that divorces have declined by more than 27% compared to 2003.
The divorce rate was highest among:
Men aged 45–49
Women aged 40–44
Question
What reasons can you suggest for the fall in the divorce rate?
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3. Divorce You have probably identified several possible reasons.
Below is a quote from a statistician, which almost certainly includes factors that you have already thought of.
‘Compared with 2004, divorce rates in 2014 were lower for all age groups except women aged 55 and over. Likely factors include increased cohabiting and increasing age at first marriage. Previous research indicated a higher risk of divorce among those marrying at younger ages, whilst cohabitation may be reducing the number of weaker relationships progressing to marriage.’
Nicola Haynes, Vital Statistics Output Branch, ONS
Question
What do you think it means to say that ‘cohabitation may be reducing the number of weaker relationships progressing to marriage’?
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4. Divorce
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5. Divorce
Both marriage and divorce rates are influenced by a number of factors. Looking at the previous slide (Figure 1) you will note a steep rise in the number of marriages towards the end of the 1930s. This reflected the anticipation and arrival of the start of the Second World War. Many couples married before their husbands joined the armed forces. It also explains the fall in the number of marriages around Many couples had already married, while others were unable to either because the male was serving overseas, or had been killed in conflict. The rise in the number of divorces from the late 1940s reflects the increased participation of women in the labour market, making them less financially dependent on their husbands. The sharp rise from the early 1970s is partly a consequence of the Divorce Reform Act 1969, which came into effect in England and Wales in January 1971, and which made it easier for couples to divorce. The relatively high rates through the 1980s and 1990s reflect changing attitudes towards divorce — it was much less of a social stigma than in previous generations.
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6. Lone parenthood
In 2016 there were almost 2 million lone parents with dependent children in the UK, an increase from 1.9 million in Such families now represent 25% of all families with dependent children. Around 85% of lone-parent families are headed by a female, and 15% by a male. Question How would you explain this statistic? Less than 2% of lone parents are teenagers. Two-thirds of lone parents (66.5%) are in work. Despite this, 44% of children in lone-parent families are in relative poverty, twice as many as children in two-parent families. In addition, there were a further 1 million lone-parent families containing only non-dependent children (i.e. those over 15).
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7. Birth rate
It is very important to distinguish between the different measurements associated with this topic. You should know the definition of, and difference between, the following:
Number of live births
Crude birth rate
Fertility rate
Total fertility rate
Remember to check to see whether statistics quoted are a rate, or a total number.
Overall, there has been a downward trend in the birth rate, though recently there has been a slight rise.
Estimates for 2016 suggest that the crude birth rate for that year (the number of live births per 1,000 of the population) was 12.1.
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8. Birth rate
2015 showed a slight decrease in the total fertility rate (the number of children born to a woman over the course of her child-bearing years) to 1.82 children. The average age of mothers was 30.3 years. However, there has been an increase in the fertility rate of women aged 40 or over. This group now has a higher fertility rate than women under 20. This last happened in Questions What reasons might there be for the current fertility rate of women aged 40 and over? Why might this have happened in 1947? Almost half (47.7%) of all babies were born outside marriage or a civil partnership. Over a quarter (27.3%) of births were to mothers born outside the UK. This reflects both the fact that fertility rates are usually higher in these mothers’ country of origin, and also that foreign-born women have a younger age structure than the British-born population — a greater proportion of them are in the 25–34 age group, when fertility rates are high.
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9. Birth rate
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10. Young adults in the parental home
A further change in household structure is that a growing number of young adults are living in the parental home. (This includes parents, grandparents, step-parents and foster parents.) In 2016, 6.5 million of those aged 15–34 were in this situation — 39% of the age group. While it might be expected that teenagers might still live at home, 3.3 million young adults aged 20–34 were doing so — 25% of this age group. Males are more likely than females to be living in the parental home. Nearly 45% of males aged 15–34 were living at home, compared to nearly 35% of females. Looking at the group aged 20–34, 31% of males were living in the parental homes, compared with 20% of females. Questions What reasons can you suggest for the proportion of young adults still living at home? Why might the proportion of males in this position be greater than females?
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11. Young adults in the parental home
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