Examine reasons why patterns of childbearing have changed in contemporary British society (24 marks).
Examine reasons why patterns of childbearing have changed in contemporary British society (24 marks).
In this essay I will be examining why the patterns if childbearing have changed in British society. I will be looking at how higher ages of mothers, less children being born and increase in childlessness are factors of the changes in childbearing. Childbearing is the process of giving birth to children.
One of the reasons for changes in childbearing is higher ages of mothers. In today’s society many women are having children at later age then earlier. In the 1940’s, it was norms and values for women to stay at home and look after their children. Women were expected to be married and have children at early ages. This was because they were made to stay at home and be housewife’s and were not expected to work but to look after the children. However, in today’s society, the roles of women have changed dramatically. More women are going into further education and achieving qualifications to work and stabilise themselves economically. Due to this, more women tend to focus on their job careers then on having children this also mean’s the average age of marriage is increasing. The most recent figures from the ‘Office for National Statistics’ show the average age at which men get married is 30.8 years, while women are typically aged 28.9 years. Although many have children outside wedlock, many have children once married possibly because of secularisation. Women because of their careers are having children later then soon. The latest figures show that almost 350,000 children are born every year to women above the age of 30 in the UK. Of these, almost 28,000 mothers are above the age of 40. In 2010, some 141 babies were born to women above the age of 50. This illustrates that women are having children later as they want to focus on their careers and opportunity’s they wouldn’t of had 100 years ago. Patterns of childbearing have changed in contemporary British society
In this essay I will be examining why the patterns if childbearing have changed in British society. I will be looking at how higher ages of mothers, less children being born and increase in childlessness are factors of the changes in childbearing. Childbearing is the process of giving birth to children.
One of the reasons for changes in childbearing is higher ages of mothers. In today’s society many women are having children at later age then earlier. In the 1940’s, it was norms and values for women to stay at home and look after their children. Women were expected to be married and have children at early ages. This was because they were made to stay at home and be housewife’s and were not expected to work but to look after the children. However, in today’s society, the roles of women have changed dramatically. More women are going into further education and achieving qualifications to work and stabilise themselves economically. Due to this, more women tend to focus on their job careers then on having children this also mean’s the average age of marriage is increasing. The most recent figures from the ‘Office for National Statistics’ show the average age at which men get married is 30.8 years, while women are typically aged 28.9 years. Although many have children outside wedlock, many have children once married possibly because of secularisation. Women because of their careers are having children later then soon. The latest figures show that almost 350,000 children are born every year to women above the age of 30 in the UK. Of these, almost 28,000 mothers are above the age of 40. In 2010, some 141 babies were born to women above the age of 50. This illustrates that women are having children later as they want to focus on their careers and opportunity’s they wouldn’t of had 100 years ago. Patterns of childbearing have changed in contemporary British society