There Are Many Reasons For Changes In Family Size Over The Past 100 Years
There are many reasons for changes in family size over the past 100 years. Family size has been changing in all of the world’s industrial societies. These changes can be directly linked to the changes in patterns of family life and the reasons for these changes. These changes include marriage and divorce. Such changes contribute to greater family diversity and many sociologists from different perspectives have interpreted these changes differently.
Firstly, it is important to look in a historical context for the reason family size has changed. Parental attitudes towards children in the middle ages were very different to attitudes today. Shorter argues that high death rates encouraged indifference and neglect towards children. For example, it was normal for parents to give a new born baby the name of a recently dead sibling since they had so many children due to a high infant mortality rate, however the change in the position of children in the 19th and 20th centuries means there has been a decline in family size and lower infant mortality rates. These have encouraged parents to make a greater financial and emotional investment in children because of increased healthcare and child-centeredness which has led to the result of families having fewer children than before.
Divorce is a major cause in the change of family size and greater family diversity. For example, most remarriages involve a divorcee, and divorce creates both lone-parent families and one-person households. Since the 1960’s, there has been a great increase in the number of divorces. The number of divorces quadrupled between the years of 1961 and 1972. An important figure to examine also is the fact that 7 out of 10 petitions filed for divorce is women. The increase in divorce has led to more reconstituted families, singlehood and single parenthood; therefore the family size has generally decreased apart from in cases where reconstituted families have been formed. This increase in divorce is due to
Firstly, it is important to look in a historical context for the reason family size has changed. Parental attitudes towards children in the middle ages were very different to attitudes today. Shorter argues that high death rates encouraged indifference and neglect towards children. For example, it was normal for parents to give a new born baby the name of a recently dead sibling since they had so many children due to a high infant mortality rate, however the change in the position of children in the 19th and 20th centuries means there has been a decline in family size and lower infant mortality rates. These have encouraged parents to make a greater financial and emotional investment in children because of increased healthcare and child-centeredness which has led to the result of families having fewer children than before.
Divorce is a major cause in the change of family size and greater family diversity. For example, most remarriages involve a divorcee, and divorce creates both lone-parent families and one-person households. Since the 1960’s, there has been a great increase in the number of divorces. The number of divorces quadrupled between the years of 1961 and 1972. An important figure to examine also is the fact that 7 out of 10 petitions filed for divorce is women. The increase in divorce has led to more reconstituted families, singlehood and single parenthood; therefore the family size has generally decreased apart from in cases where reconstituted families have been formed. This increase in divorce is due to