Sociology Paper Two: Families and Households Questions

Women must perform housework, paid work, and emotion work. This includes childcare.

Individuals create their own family outside of their family members. For example, a boyfriend or girlfriend who you may never marry but cohabit with, could be part of a chosen family. Your parents' best fried may be referred to as an 'auntie'/'uncle'

The factors which determine the birth rate are the proportion of women who are of the childbearing age, and it looks at how fertile they are to determine how many children they will be able to have in their lifetime.

1. Decline in Infant Mortality The infant mortality rate (IMR) measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive, per year... Harper argues the fall in the IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate. This is because if many infants die, parents have more children to replace those they have lost, which increases the birth rate. However, if infants survive, parents will have fewer children... In 1900, the IMR for the UK was 154 (over 15% of babies died within their first year). Higher figures than less developed countries of today e.g. in 2014, the world’s highest estimated IMR was in Afghanistan, at 117... During the first half of the 20th century, the UK’s IMR began to decrease: 1. Improved housing and better sanitation. 2. Better nutrition (including mothers). 3. Better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare. 4. Fall in the number of married women working may have improved theirs and their babies’ health. 5. Improved services for mothers and children, such as antenatal and postnatal clinics... From about the 1950s, medical factors began to play a greater role e.g. mass immunisation against childhood diseases such as whooping cough, diphtheria and later measles, the use of antibiotics to fight infection and improved midwifery... As a result, by 1950, the UK’s IMR had fallen to 30 and by 2012, it stood at 4... Brass and Kabir, 1978: argue that the trend to smaller families began not in rural areas, where the IMR first began to fall, but in urban areas, where the IMR remained higher for longer... EFFECT: 1. Smaller families mean that women are more likely to be free to go out to work. Thus, creating the dual earner couple, typical of many professional families. However, family size is only one factor... For example, better off couples may be able to have larger families and still afford childcare that allows them both to work full-time.