Divorce, Marriage and Cohabiation

These are the flashcards from my notes with some facts from the AQA Y1 Sociology book.

What did the ONS find out in 2018?

In 2018, they registered the lowest number of marriages in England and Wales since 2009

Name the reasons why there are changing patterns in divorce (2)

* Since the 1990s fewer people are choosing to marriage and choose cohabitation instead
* Some couples are more likely to divorce than others e.g. those who marry young, people who have a child before marriage and where one or both partners have been married before

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Name some challenges of marriage (3)

* Economic factors - weddings are getting more expensive so people may choose to delay it
* Changing gender roles - Women no longer need to rely on men financially
* Changing attitudes toward marriage - Secularisation, the declining stigma to unmarried couples

What does the sociologists Oakley and Delphy (1980) say about marriage?

They argue that marriage is the construct of the patriarchal system and that marriage is a work contract

Explain how women can be exploited in marriage

* Their bodies - Sexual assault was not considered a criminal offence till 1992 in Britain.
* Labour in the Home - Women do the majority of the labour of the household and childcare

What does Functionalists think about marriage?

Marriage is an important institution in society as it fulfils the function of **socialisation** of the young and **reproduction** of the next generation

What is the New Right’s perspective on marriage?

They see marriage as the path to the nuclear family which they think serves as a ‘building block’ of society