Examine Changes in the Patterns in Childbearing and Childrearing in the UK since the 1970s

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Ben Scaife        10/10/10

Examine Changes in the Patterns in Childbearing and Childrearing in the UK since the 1970s

Before 1970, although the child protection act had lowered the amount of children a couple could have, there was a need for many children in a family. This was because after the first and second world war, there were many deaths across the country, and to replace them children were to be born. When the soldiers got back from war they came home to their wives which in the long term resulted in more births in the UK.

Since the 1970s, there has been less of a need to have as many children because many things have changed since the war. The 1970s rise in lone motherhood was largely a consequence of increasing divorce rates. From the mid-1980s onwards it was more associated with childbearing outside of marriage. In 1991-3, 40% of mothers in lone mother families had never been married compared to only 18% in 1973-5. Over the same period the percentage that was separated or divorced was fairly stable, at 55% in 1991-93 and 61% in 1971-3 (Kiernan et al.1998). Divorce has replaced widowhood as the main cause of lone motherhood. The growth of cohabitation also contributed to the rise: it is estimated that a fifth of cohabiting unions produce children, and about 50% of unions with children break down. 

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Since the war, women have now had the right to vote, opportunities to reach further education and are now being paid to work. There was a major change of attitude to the role of the women in the house after the war because more families were single parent due to the death of a husband in the war. It was easier to get a divorce out of a relationship that wasn’t working and women after 1967 had the choice to have a child or to abort. This gave women a lot more freedom and rights to do what they ...

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