marriage and cohabitation

2023 guardian article on the slump of marriage

• 5.8 million people unmarried with 1.2 million of those being between 25-25

• slump is due to vating welfare rules which restict payments for married people

marriage rates

• they are the number of people marrting per 1000 unmarried aged 16-18 years old

• declined by 2/3 since the 1960’s

• in 2009 there were 42% fewer marriges than in 1971

• 2010 32 for men and 30 for women

• could be due to the growth of secularism which has reduced the number of religious cerimonies

childbearing

• number of children age for 1st children and the overall changes in parenting practises

• 1971-2011 5x number of births outside of marrige

• ¼ families in 2011 were lone parent

cohabitation

• by 1997 22% of couples between 16-59 were cohbating

• later marriges are often followed by long periods of cohabitiation but many choose not to Marry at all especially those who are divorcees

• the proportion of couples cohbating also down to more gay couples

• responsible for increase in births outside of marriage in 1992 75% of births registered by both parents compared to 45% in 1971

• 1960’s fewer than 100 whilst 1/6 adults in 2010

divorce

• the legal termination of a marriage

• post 1960’s there has been an increase in the number of divorces due to no fault divorces in 1969

• divorce rate is mesaured by number of divorces per 1,000 married people, divorce petitions and decrees absolute

• 27,000 in 1961

• 1993 180,000

• 2023 76,000 2021 116,000 (pandemic)

• 42% of marriages ending in a divorce

explaning the reduced status of marriage

• changing attuides → the norm to marry has been weakened; quality of relationshop has been prioritsed over its legal status. This could be linked to secularisation there is no stigma attached to children born outside of wedlock

• fear of divorce → the rising divorce rate is widely publicised and may have been expierenced within the family

• changes in the postion of women → in the last 40 years, women have gained many rights and begun to achieve in education and work roles. the majoirty of women now have a career or a job and see this as an important part of their lives. These changes also means that women generally feel more independent and able to support themselves without the help of a man

• prolonged periods in education and career development → marriage is postponed

• secularisation → fewer people see the signifcance of a religious ceremony and many churches refuse to marry divorcees who make up a growing propotion of those who are marrying

explaining the increased status of cohabitation

• changing attiudes → norms to marry has been weakened; quality of relationship has been priortise over its legal status. the social pressure to marry in the uk has dispeared, has come to seen as optional with support from government - also detterance due to the expense of marriage

• fear of divorce → the rising divorce ratr is widely publicised and mau have been experienced within the family

• secularisation → religion and religious values have lost much of their influences over our lives so the religious ideal of the sancity of marriage has become less prominent - 43% of people cohbating have no religion compared to 34% of christains

explaning the rise in divorce rates

• changes in the law → legal barriers which once prevented all but the extremely rich from gaining acess to divorce - have gradually been removed e.g 1969 divorce reform act and 2022 the launch of no fault divorce costs have been reduced

• changes attudies → divorce has lost its stigma = post modernists giddens 1993 highlight the growing individualsation and uncertainty in modern socties and negoated peronal gained signifacne, choice over our commitment to insitutions

• secularsation → religion and religious vaules have lost much of their influence

• rising expecations over marriage → in the past, expectations of personal fufilment were low and now the ideology of romantic love now dominates views of relationships

• changes in the postion of women → 75% of divorcees are iniated by women, they are less economically dependent on men and if men are invovled within the household less likely for divorce

• privatised nuclear family → isolated from extented kin less advice and tempoary refgue from stresses, family may prevent individuals from abandoing marriage

• reduced functions of the family → marriage less of a practial necessirt as some functions now undertaken by state

• prolonged life expectancey

explaning aspects of childbearing

• the changing postion of women → women are delaying motherhood in their life course and may not be fincally dependent on men

• changing attidues → there is less stigma meaning fewer shotgun weddings and lone parenthood my be instead a choice. but traditional stereotypes remain when it comes to seperation

• reproductive technology → women have more control over their ivf

• support from the welfare state → murray 1990 believes that women are choosing to have babies that they could not afford it if it werent for the welfare state

life course

• this refers to the signifcant events that indiduals experience as they make there way through life and the choices e.g such as marriage, parenthood, divorce and retirment

• allen and crow 2001 → in the past there was little variation in the life course but in contempary society there have been huge changes in family foundation and no set pattern

• growth in singlehood → 1901 only 1 in 20 and now 1 in 3 families are single

• growth in adult kids (heath 2004) in 2011 1 in 3 men and 1 in 6 women ages 20-34 still living with parents

• growth in families of choice → households where there are no strong non famillia bonds with shared domescities and lesuire

• regional differences → eversley and bonnerjean (1982) on the south coast there are elderly couples in older more industrial areas have more extened families and for some, the boundaries between family and friends is blurred

arguments for the family diversty debate

• rhong and robert rapoport 1982 → changes caused by globalisation and post modern world family divsersity is the norm with 8 examples (clogs) cultural diversty, life stage diversty, organsational diversty, social class diversty,

• gladens 1992 → a decline in traditional pressure and an increase in divorce family diversty is the norm and pure relationships formed

arguments agaisnt the family diversty debate

• radical feminsts → patriachal nuclear family in which womens labour is exploited by men is still the norm

• functionlism robert chester 1985 → society has been misled by claims of diversty as the nuclear family is still dominant, however the neo conventional family has evolved e.g dual career whilst women are still maintaining the expressive role

• marxist feminst → the nuclear family is the best way of reducing the future workforce to miniuim and capitalism has allowed for this family type to dominate

functionlists perpective on family diversty

• the family is set to fufil certian functions (Murdock)

• focus mainly on the white middle class family

• they arent agaisnt diverse forms of family as long as they fufil the functions of society but the traditional nuclear family is the best way to do so

the new right

• the building blocks of society is the traditional nuclear family thus they are agaisnt diversty

• they oppose rising numbers of lone parent families as this increases welfare benefits (links to crime rate)

• two parent heterosexual families are the best way to provide for a family

post modernism

• supportive of diversty because of indivdualism where people should do what is best for them even if it goes agaisnt the norms of society

• support and encourage family diversty

feminism

• women can benefit from family diversty as it helps to releave the patriachry

• dune and weaks 1999 → same sex partners have much more of an equal division of labour

marxism

• nuclear family reenforces capitalism and class inequalitly

• however gender and ethnicity have been ignored in the beief of capitalism and class