Family & Household Diversity timeline

•In the 1950s most people lived in traditional families.

•Most children lived with both their biological parents.

•Most parents remained married for life.

•Men and women had different roles.

•The man was usually the breadwinner.

•The wife stayed at home as the housewife and mother.

•Most couples got married before they lived together.

•Most people got married before they had children.

•Divorce rates were low.

•We do not know how many marriages were unhappy.

The Women’s Movement asked for:

•equal pay

•freedom from sexual discrimination

•the right to control their fertility through free contraception.

•New Right governments attack single parents.

•The Child Support Agency chases ‘absent fathers’ for financial support for their biological children.

•The New Right strongly support traditional families.

•Divorce continues to rise.

•New Labour is more sympathetic to family diversity than the New Right.

•New Labour focuses on people in need, particularly children in poverty.

•The attack on single parents stops.

•Tax credits for children are introduced to reduce child poverty.

•Maternity leave is improved and paternity leave introduced, although few fathers take advantage of paternity leave.

•The Conservative Party attacks the Labour government for not supporting marriage. •All parties become concerned about the cost of supporting the elderly.

•Marriage rates fall.

•Many marriages are remarriages.

•Large numbers of young people cohabit before marrying.

•Large numbers of children live with a single parent or a step-parent.

•Divorce rates stabilise.

•People marry later.

•New technology makes it possible to extend child-bearing.

•‘Test-tube’ babies and babies with surrogate mothers are born.

•Some of these changes can arouse considerable controversy.

•Same-sex couples gain the right to civil partnerships in 2005.

•Same-sex couples also gain similar legal rights to married couples.