How have changes in society weakened the nuclear family?
The decreasing number of nuclear families in modern Britain is due to changing social opinions and an introduction of government laws in recent decades which has lead to a rise in 'atypical' families, ie ones different to nuclear. Since the end of WW2 there has been a decrease in societal expectations regarding marriage. More specifically, there is now less pressure, and it has become less of a norm, for couples to marry because they are having a child, and it is now more acceptable to have a divorce. This means that there are more single-parent families, because couples are less likely to stay together after having a child (as societal expectation doesn't point in that direction) and are more likely to divorce. As a result, this weakens the nuclear family as there are less of them, instead there is a rise in single-parent families. Also, laws such as the Equal Pay Act 1970 mean there is now less of a gap between women and men earnings (although the gap still exists...