Def. Study of population
Population depends on factors such as fertility, morality rate and net migration and emigration
Sociologists argue that demographic changes over the past 100 years have had a major influence on British family life
Births and Fertility Rates
Main reason is shifts in the UK population is either an increase or a reduction in the number of births
UK birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 of the population over a year so declined steeply over the course of the last 100 years from 28 in 1900 to 11 in 2017
Fertility rates refers to number of live births per 1000 woman aged 15-44 over 1 year
Total fertility rate (TFR) refers to the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime so in 1900 the TFR was 3.5 compared with 1.94 in 2012
TFR is more useful measure than the crude birth rate as it gives us a measure of the typical size of families
TFR fell as woman’s attitudes towards family life changed as more of them entered high education so career opportunities became available
Wilkinson notes having children became less of a priority for woman in the 1980s and 1990s
Sharpe’s survey of girls in the 1970s compared with girls in 1990s conforms this
Number of births and when number of deaths in subtracted from this we calculate the natural increase in population
Birth rates in UK have declined for some time such as in 1901 there were over a million births but in 2013 only 698’512 babies were born
Fertility rates for England and Wales have declined over past 100 years so in 1900 the fertility rate of 115 compared to 57 in 1999 although it had recovered to 64 in 2012
Hicks and Allen (1999) note that in 1900 the TFR was equivalent to a completed family size of 3.5 children
In 2012. The UK TFR was only 1.94
Consequence in fertility rates dropped is families today are significantly smaller compared with the past
Trends in Births and Fertility
Measure of fertility is used, there has been a significant decline since the late 19th century such as in 1901 there was nearly 1.1 million births and in 2012 there were 812’970 from a larger population
Decline in fertility has been a feature of most societies that have undergone industrialisation demographers have put forward the following
Decline Morality
From 1830 onwards, the death rate in UK decreased and life expectancy increased
Infant mortality declined so in 1901 there was 25% of all deaths were babies under one year but in 2005 they discounted for less than 1%
Means families no longer have top have large numbers of children to ensure that some survive sop they have better diet, hygiene, housing and public health
Economic Factors
In 19th century children were regarded as in economic asset by many working-class parents so go to work to bring money for the family and provide support for parents in old age
Children become a financial burden on parents as they have been excluded from paid work so children are financially dependent on parents which has been extended as school leaving age increased
Annual cost of a child report sponsored by the insurer LV the cost of raising a child from birth to 21 in 2013 was 227’266
Suggested that 1 in 5 parents are delaying having another child due to cuts to child benefits
Better economic opportunities so jobs for adults and gradual introduction of welfare state such as old age pensions
Children were no longer needed as economic assets or insurance for old age by working class parents, so they choose to have fewer of them
Woman’s Opportunities
Over last century Mcimly 1970s there has been a huge expansion in opportunities for woman so both education and employment
Woman have other options apart from marriage and child bearing so tending to delay having children until they have completed their education
Changing Social Attitudes
Up until late 19th the large families were desirable
From 1870 onwards, first middle class and later working-class families began smaller families as a way of improving living standards
By mid-20th century, small families of up to 3 children became the soicla norms
Status of childness was seen as unfortunate in the past, they can now say they are child free emphasising their lack of children as lifestyle
Living standards improve so having children became more expensive and married couples choose to limit family size
Statistical evidence supports the validity
- Average age of married woman giving birth has increased by 6 year since 1971 to nearly 30 in 2012
- Fertility rates for woman aged between 35 and 39 have doubled in past 40 years so while woman below 30 have declined, children born to woman aged 40 + have doubled
Individualisation
Desire for careers over children and the notion of being child-free
Individuals increasingly seek a life of their own so they can construct their own lifestyle and relationship so no longer tied to traditional social norms such as dictate that at a particular stage of someone’s life should be getting married and start a family
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim refer to the importance of risk on modern society suggested individuals seek control and avoid life
More people avoid risk of commitment and possible divorce by cohabitating or even staying single, so some people feel children are an added risk factor
Both to their relationship and economic wellbeing so seek to minimise these risks by delaying or avoiding having children
Beck and Beck claim people are more individualistic and no longer tried to tradition
Consequently, they may decide that they prefer to invest time and money on aspects of their lifestyle such as housing and travel
Contraception and Abortion
Demographers suggest that the decline in birth rates in late 19th century was attributable more to couple so abstaining from sex than using contraception
In 20th century became more socially acceptable and the introduction of birth control pill and others so couples could plan when to have children
In 1968 abortion was legalised in England and wales under 1967 Abortion Act
Significant amount of illegal abortions before this
A total of 185’331 were in 2013
Due to secularisation decreased so society became more relaxed
In 20th century, childhood became commercialised so having babies and raising children became an expensive business such as estimated in 2014 that a person spent 28% of their income
Parents today choose to have fewer children for financial reasons
Evidence that woman’s attitudes to childbearing underwent significant change in late 20th century due to feminisation of the economy and workplace
Woman today may no longer see childbearing as a priority compared to mothers and grandmothers
Young woman may have been career orientated and more willing to postpone marriage, childbearing and family life
Fluctuations in Birth Rates
Number of births fell during both world wars and there were baby booms after and in
- Late 1950s and early 1960s
- Late 1980s and early 1990s
A baby boom as there are more young people of childbearing age in 25 years after previous baby boom
A drop in the number of births in the later 1990s because birth rate a generation easier has a reached on all time low in 1970s
Baby booms also tend to coincide with periods of economic prosperity such as the rise in the number of births in the late 1950s coincided with a period of full employment and rising wages
Number of births and TFR have been climbing since 2001
- Children of last baby boom in late 1980s are beginning families themselves
- More woman went to university in 1990s and delayed having children until 2000s
- Immigration levels have risen in recent years, immigrants tend on average to be younger than UK population as a whole and therefore more fertile, so larger families are more common place among certain immigrants’ groups
In 2010 birth rate was the highest for 37 years because of immigration from eastern Europe and Africa
Babies born to mothers from overseas accounted for 24% of all births in 2008 compared with 14% in 1998
Family Size
In Victorian England, families were larger than today with families of up to 10 children not to be uncommon so typical nuclear family
Decline in birth rates in England from around 1870 to 1920
In 1817 the average had 5.5 children but by 1921 there had fallen to 2.4 children
Families today are even smaller with 1.71 dependent children in 2012
Married or civil partnered couples had a higher average number of dependent children of their families of 1.79 dependent children
Lone parents’ families had 1.59 and cohabiting had 1.65
These patterns reflect the fact that married couples tend to be older so more likely to have completed childbearing
According to ONS 2013 the main reason that the average family size has got smaller
In recent years more woman is remaining childless
By 30th birthday, almost half of all woman born in 1982
Less than a 3rd of their mothers that were born in 1955 were childless and over a quarter of their grandmother’s generations born in 1927 were childless
- Increase in higher education
- Delay in marriage and partnership formation
- Establishing a career
- Getting a housing ladder
- Financial stability before starting a family
Susanne Whiting (2012) there was only small social class difference
Working class families were generally larger than those of the middle class
Ethnicity does impact on family size with black and Asian ethnic groups having larger families
Woman in 2017 choose to be childless and prefer to pursue a career and high standard of living
Contrasts with childlessness in the past which is viewed by society as a unfortunate statues so result of biological fault
Regarded as unfortunate because it was assumed that all woman wanted children
In 2017 more woman are voluntarily opting to be childfree so led to an increase in childfree couples and single female households
Children in 2014 are less likely to have siblings compared with children in 1964 so woman having fewer children at a much later age compared to mothers and grandmothers
Births Outside Marriage
Mid 20th century, having children outside marriage was considered shameful
Unmarried mothers were encouraged to have babies adopted
In 1971 only 8% of children were born outside marriage
Percentage has risen steadily since then reflecting the rise in late parenthood
Cohabitating couples having children
In 2012, nearly half of all babies were born outside marriage or civil partnership (47.5%) compared with 40.6% in 2002
Continues the long term rise in % of births outside marriage and civil partnership
Consistent with increase in the number of couples cohabitating rather than being married in civil partnership