Examine the Reasons for Changes in the Patterns of Marriage, Cohabitation and Divorce Essay

â€Å"Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage, divorce and cohabitation over the past 40 years. † The patterns of marriage, divorce and cohabitation over the past 40 years has varied considerably. In 1972, over 480,000 couples got married subsequently making this the highest amount of marriages within a year ever since the Second World War. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this was down to the baby boom generation of the 1950’s reaching the age of marriage. However, after this period, the number of marriages in England went into decline. Recently, marriages reached an all-time low in 2005 when only 244,701 couples got married. Less than half of what it was in 1972. Some people accuse society of rejecting marriage and are no longer bothered about it but, statistics prove otherwise. These statistics reveal that people are, in fact, delaying marriage. It is said that people most people will marry later in life, most likely after a period of cohabitation. Reasons for this may be that couples are being wary before making any serious commitments. Proof that supports the â€Å"marrying later in life† idea is that the average age of a bride in 2003 was 29 and all grooms 31 years old compared with 22 for women and 24 for men in 1971. Specifically, women may want to delay marriage for reasons such as advancing in their career prospects. Not only is there a drop in the total number of marriages but also a decline in marriage rates (the number of people marrying per 1000 of the population aged 16 and over). Marriage rates are at their lowest since the 1920’s and further plummeting. In 1994, the marriage rate was 11. 4 but this had declined to 10. by 2004. The male rate declined from 36. 3 in 1994 to 27. 8 in 2004 whilst the female rate declined from 30. 6 to 24. 6. Once more, surveys emphasis that most people, whether single, divorced or cohabitating still see marriage as a desirable life-goal and therefore will get married eventually especially if they are having children as they see this as the basis of family life. Another change in the pattern of marriage is that two fifths of all marriages are remarriages. These people are clearly faithful to the institution of marriage in spite of their previous negative experience of it. The reason for this trend could possibly be due to their first marriages, which were empty-shell marriages. This is where there is no love or intimacy between them, but the marriage persists for the sake of the children until they are old enough. They might then decide to start a new life, including getting remarried. Such options are available to civilization for several reasons. Changes to the attitude of marriage has ensured that there is less pressure to marry and that there is more freedom to choose what type of relationship people want to live in. The norm that everyone ought to get married has greatly weakened. This is visible by the decline in stigma attached to marriage – cohabitation, remaining single and having children outside of marriage is now all regarded as acceptable. Giddens (1993) and Goode (1963) both argue that there is a trend towards adopting Westernised forms of marriage and family structure. They believe that we are slowly moving towards having the free choice of choosing our spouse, that there is a decline in arrange marriage and an increase towards egalitarian marriage and the notion of no sexual experience prior to marriage seems to be changing. Coleman and Salt (1992) also support this view as they believe that traditional views are being challenged by new idea, new economic roles for women, new laws and family planning. Dennis (19840 similarly suggests the same idea claiming that modern marriages are fragile and are only held together by emotional ties. He thinks that if these ties fail, then there is little reason for a couple to remain together. Regardless of the reduction in the overall number of people marrying, married couples are still the main type of partnership for men and women in the UK. In 2005, seven in ten families were headed by a married couple. In the terms of Divorce – the legal termination of marriage, this has increased immensely since 1971 due to the change in legislation that had liberalized divorce, made it cheaper and easier to obtain. The Divorce Reform Act of 1971 was the most important because prior to 1971, one partner had to provide ‘evidence’ that they had been wronged by the significant other (matrimonial offence). Due to the change of the law, it allowed people to divorce on the basis of â€Å"irretrievable breakdown†. In addition, since 1984, the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act reduced the time limit for divorce for a minimum of 3 years of marriage to only one year. After this act, the divorce rate shot up again, as it did in 1971. Now, people were finally able to legally to end all connections, as previously when divorce was either too expensive or difficult to obtain, separation was very common, which was when a couple decided to live away from each other. To go into more detail of the trend of increased divorces, in 1993, the number of divorces peaked at 180,000. By 2000, this figure had fallen to 154,000, lthough the years 2001 – 2004 have seen a gradual rise to 167,100. There is now almost as many divorces as there is marriages and if recent trends continues, almost 40% of marriages will end in divorce. An adequate reason for this increased style of divorcing is that it is no longer linked with stigma and shame. The British culture is hugely based on Christian beliefs and one of these beliefs is that marriage is for life (‘till death do us part’). Nevertheless, over the years secularisation and a change in attitudes has emerged and the view that divorce can lead to greater happiness for the individual is more acceptable. Wilson (1966) agrees with this as he believes that the Christian ideal of lifelong marriage is taken less seriously as less than half of marriages ceremonies are now religious and few couple are regular churchgoers. Another view is that people now have a higher standard of marriage and increased expectation. Fletcher (1966) argues that couples are less likely to put up with doomed ‘empty-shell’ marriages, thus making divorce more common. However, at the same times, most divorcees remarry, suggesting that they do not reject the institution of marriage but expect more from the relationship. Another reason which contributes to the increase of divorce rates is down to women wanting to improve educational and career opportunities. Increase to women employments has ensured for women to be economically and financially independent. So women who were previously stuck in ‘empty-shell’ marriages because of their inability to support themselves – now do not have to. Fletcher greatly agreed with this argument but women’s earnings are still less than 755 of men’s. Many women are in low paid and part time work, so their opportunities for financial independence are limited. Feminist sociologists note that women expectations of marriage have changed radically over the years. Evidence of this is that 75% of divorce petitions are made by women, indicating dissatisfaction among women with their marriages and their husbands. This can support Thornes and Collard’s (1979) view that women expect more from marriage than men and the value friendship and emotional gratification more than men do. If the male spouse fails to live up to these expectations, women may feel the need to search elsewhere. Lastly, Functionalist sociologists argue that high divorce rates indicate that marriage is progressively valued and that people are demanding higher standards from their partners. They believe that couples are not refusing to put up with hopeless, ‘empty-shell’ marriages as people now want emotionally and sexually compatibility, and equality as well as companionship. It is a fact that some will even go through various people just to search for ‘the one’ and if they marry every time they meet a new partner, then they are obviously going to contributing to the rising divorce rates. Cohabitation is a trend that has been on the rise for the last decade. The proportion of non-married people cohabiting has risen sharply in the last 20 years from 11% of men and 13% of women in 1986 to 24% and 25% respectively. In 2007, the Office for Nation Statistics (ONS) suggested that cohabitating couples are the fastest growing type of family in Britain. For instance, there are around 2. 2 million cohabiting couples with or without children and about a quarter of all unmarried adults under 60 are now cohabiting – double the number in 1986. This specific form of relationship has increased by 65% since 1997. In addition, the ONS data suggested that a third of teenagers in 2007 were destined to cohabit rather than marry compared with one in ten of their grandparents. As gathered, the trend is on the rise, raising a few questions from researchers as to why this is happening. One reason would be that people like to cohabit to â€Å"test the water†. During this period, they (the couple) will assess and analyse each other to see if they are well-matched and whether they will be able to live with one another before making any serious commitments. After all, cohabitation on average lasts 5 years, which from then on 60% of cohabitees will then join in matrimony. Another reason for the increase of cohabitation is that there are a significant number of people who live together whilst in the process of divorce. For example, in 2005, 23% of cohabiting men were separated from former partners while 36% were divorced. So granting a person may be married, they have separated and moved into another house to live with as person they have met. This will be then considered as a cohabitee. A third reason contributing to the rise of cohabitation is that people are baffled by the cost of marriages. According to Wedding Guide UK, the average cost of a traditional wedding in the UK is around ? 11,000. To add to this, some people are putt off by the religious ceremony of marriage. Britain has over time grown to become a secular society. Both these factors will make people refrain from marrying because in their eyes they see it as long as they are happily together, they do not need a ring or a piece of paper to prove anything else. Women do not want to marry as much anymore with increased career opportunities. Most women feel that there is less need to go throw the hassle for the financial security of marriage as they are free to opt for cohabitation. However many argue that the relationship between cohabitation and marriage is not clear cut since for some couples, cohabitation is just a step on the way of getting married, whereas for others it is a permanent alternative to marriage. Chester (1985) argues that for most people cohabitation is part of the process of getting married. For example, according to Ernestina Coast (2006) 75% of cohabiting couples say they expect to marry each other. On the other hand, some couples see cohabitation as permanent substitute to marriage. Andre Bejin (1985) argues that cohabitation among some young people represents a conscious attempt to create a more personally negotiated and equal relationship than conventional patriarchal for example Shelton and John (1993) found that women who cohabit do less house work than married women This would appeal to women as it relieves them of the worry of balancing both house work and their daily jobs which women of marriages do have to worry about. Many sociologists are now claiming that marital breakdown is the norm of todays society. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) argue rising divorce rates are the products of a rapidly changing world in which the traditional rules, rituals and tradition of love, romance and relationships no longer apply. Whereas Functionalist Robert Chester (1985) insists that even though there are new ways of living, the nuclear family will not die out but instead conform to the new traditions of todays society. Morgan (1996) and Giddens (1991) both similarly argue that divorce may have physical harm to each individual yet it brings freedom and opportunity to humanity. Morgan claims that the more divorce and re-marriages increase, the more we find ourselves part of many different families at the same time and this effects who we think we are. Giddens, once again, shadows Morgans views by saying that divorce offers people the chance to reassess who they are. In conclusion, there have many changes in the institution of marriage. Many argue that society will no longer be the same. This is considered to be very realistic as all human actions change over time.