The document traces changes in families and households in Britain from the 1950s to the present. In the 1950s, most families were traditional nuclear families with clear gender roles and low divorce rates. During the 1960s and 1970s, divorce laws were liberalized and women's roles changed as the Women's Movement advocated for equal rights. Subsequent decades saw rising ethnic diversity, increasing acceptance of diverse family forms like cohabitation and single-parent families, and developments like civil partnerships and assisted reproductive technology that further expanded family possibilities.

1. 1AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
Families and households
timeline

2. 2AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
1950s – Traditional families
• Most children lived with both their biological
parents.
• Most parents remained married for life.
In the 1950s most people lived in traditional
families.

3. 3AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
• Men and women had different roles.
• The man was usually the breadwinner.
• The wife stayed at home as the housewife
and mother.
1950s – Clear division of labour

4. 4AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
• 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.
1950s – Marriage

5. 5AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
The Women’s Movement asked for:
• equal pay
• freedom from sexual discrimination
• the right to control their fertility through free
contraception.
1960s/70s – Changes in women’s roles

6. 6AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
1960s/70s – Divorce Law Reform Act (1969)
• the right to divorce without blame.
• to divorce after two years if both partners
agree, or after five years even without
agreement.
The result was that rates of divorce, which had
already increased by this time, now rose
sharply.
Allowed couples:

7. 7AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
1980s/90s – Ethnic diversity
• Britain becomes more diverse.
• Black Caribbean and South Asian
communities bring different patterns of family
life to Britain.
• Black Caribbean children are more likely to
live with a lone parent.
• South Asian families are more likely to be
traditional.

8. 8AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
1980s/90s – New Right governments
• 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.

9. 9AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
1980s/90s – New Labour governments
• 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.

10. 10AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
Twenty-first century – New Labour policies
• 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.

11. 11AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
• 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.
Twenty-first century – Divorce and cohabitation

12. 12AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
Twenty-first century – New technology
• 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.

13. 13AQA Sociology AS Level © Nelson Thornes 2008
Unit 1, Section 2
Twenty-first century – Civil partnerships
• Same-sex couples gain the right to civil
partnerships in 2005.
• Same-sex couples also gain similar legal rights
to married couples.