Happy Families History Family Policy - The British Academy

Happy families? History and family policy

H I S T ORY A ND F A M I LY PO L I C Y

Pat Thane

Happy families? History and family policy brings together

evidence on the history of families and how they have

changed over the last few hundred years, examining the

claims that abound about ¡°broken¡± families. It finds that

high rates of non-marriage among men and women bringing

up children existed during much of the past two centuries,

making the period 1945-70 unusual, rather than the norm.

Marriage break-up, marital unhappiness and violence towards

women and children were also common in the past, partly

because divorce was financially and legally difficult. The

report also tackles claims about the lack of male ¡°rolemodels¡± noting that before the 1950s there were always large

numbers of impoverished families headed by lone mothers.

The prevalence of premarital sex in contemporary society

is also discussed, and identified as a normal part of the

courtship process for large sections of the population over the

last 250 years. The report concludes that the poorest families

have always found it hardest to achieve stability and harmony,

suggesting that socio-economic inequality may be a more

important challenge than features of the family itself.

Happy families?

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ISBN: 978-0-85672-590-6

10-11 Carlton House Terrace

London SW1Y 5AH

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Registered Charity: Number 233176

by Pat Thane

The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and

supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and

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internationally. The British Academy is a Fellowship of over 900 UK scholars

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work on policy is supported by its Policy Centre, which draws on funding

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1

HA PPY FA M I L I E S ?

HI S TO RY A N D FAMILY

POLICY

A R E P O RT P R E PA R E D F O R

THE BRITISH ACADEMY

by Professor Pat Thane FBA

THE BRITISH ACADEMY

10-11 Carlton House Terrace

London SW1Y 5AH

Web site: britac.ac.uk

Registered Charity: Number 233176

?The British Academy 2010

Published October 2010

Revised September 2011

ISBN 978-0-85672-590-6

Typeset by Soapbox

soapbox.co.uk

Printed by Repropoint

C O N TENTS

C ontents

Preface5

Key messages

7

Executive summary

9

1. Introduction

Why history?

Time and place

2. Facets of family life

17

17

17

23

Marriage

Cohabitation and divorce

Marriage break-up: domestic violence

Widowhood

Births

i) Birth rate

23

25

38

45

48

ii) Family size

51

Illegitimacy

Household and family structures

Relationships between generations

Moral panics about the family

3. Conclusion

48

54

57

60

62

67

Endnotes 

71

About the author 

79

British Academy policy publications 

80

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