F&H Marriage and Divorce Flashcards
What are some of the different types of marriage?
Monogamy - having one husband or one wife at a time
Serial monogamy - marrying more than once in your lifetime because of divorce and/or death
polygamy - marriage to more than one partner at the same time. There are two types of polygamy
Polygyny - when a religion or culture allows a man to take more than one wife
Polyandry - when a culture allows a woman to take more than one husband
What are some of the key trends in marriage and marriage rates?
- General marriage rate is decreasing
- Decreasing at a stable rate
- Starting to curb at the end.
- Rise in the age of those getting married.
- Still older men on average marry slightly younger women.
- Class elements. 66% of professional class married vs 44% of unskilled.
What are some of the ethnic variations when it comes to marriage?
Bertroud: Research into British Asian families
- Majority of people in British Asianb families live in nuclear families (above the black & white averages)
- Much more likely to live in extended multigenerational families. This is largely due to cultural & religious expectations.
- Less cohabitation before marriage and less divorce
- Arranged marriage is more common
- Little intermarriage between different faiths/ethnicities
- Marry at a younger age
- Often have children at a younger age
British Afro-Caribbean (Black British families):
- Less likely to be in a formal marriage - only 39 percent of British born African Caribbean adults are in formal marriages, compared with 60 percent of White adults
- Greater number of lone parent families
Why has the marriage rate fallen in the last 50 years?
- changing attitudes
- cost
- increasing secularisation
- welfare state
- consumerism
- modern attitudes to dating
changing attitudes
Marriage no longer is seen as an obligatory ceremony for status - but rather amount love & a fulfilling relationship. This is good as women are allowed to choose to be married rather than be forced into it by family/friends/society’s expectations
cost
Marriage is also extremely expensive and this could be a factor as to why the marriage rate is declining. Recent statistics in 2019 showed that the average cost of a wedding in the UK was £32,000
Increasing secularisation
Increasing secularisation in the last 50 years (the withdrawing importance of religion) has meant that marriage is less likely to be seen as a sacred bond and an ideal to strive for in life.
Welfare state
Policies, particularly the welfare state, have put people off marriage. Now people can rely on the government and do not need the financial and social security that a partner can offer.
Increasing consumerism:
Modern consumerist capitalism allows people to live lives of luxury. It is possible that attaining wealth is now the objective for many, not marriage.
Modern attitudes to dating
Ideas of commitment and stability are becoming less common/ old fashioned. This is exacerbated today with the rise of dating apps that encourage disposability towards relationships.
Why do the New Right argue that the decline in the marriage rate is a major concern for society?
Patricia Morgan (2000) argues that marriage is centrally important to society, morality and social order because it involves unique attachments, obligations and mutual expectations that legally and ethically regulate and limit people’s behaviours.
- Married people make better lovers, parents, workers and citizens because marriage promotes the sharing of the same legal and social duties and obligations to the community.
- Other New Right thinkers see secularisation as partly responsible for the decline in the marriage rate - people don’t see marriage vows as sacred and no longer see adultery as a sin.
- Without doubt, the New Right blame the welfare state, it’s replaced husbands (financially) for women allowing single parenthood - increasing the expense for the state.
Why do more liberally minded thinkers, particularly feminisist, believe that the fall in the marriage rate is a positive thing for society?
- Marriage is now seen as a personal and intimate relationship that needs to be sustained and people look for egalitarian relationships rather than patriarchal marriages.
- Marriage no longer is seen as an obligatory ceremony for status - but rather amount love & a fulfilling relationship. This is good as women are allowed to choose to be married rather than be forced into it by family/friends/society’s expectations
- The decline in marriage rates in this period and rise of divorce are not negative trends. They indicate that people, especially women, are less carefree about marriage. - It is seen as an individual choice.
- Marriage is seen as a serious individual choice
Why are the New Right so critical about the rising cohabitation rates in the last 30 years?
- Patricia Morgan: Cohabitation is responsible for decline in marriage & traditional nuclear family.
- Less stable than marriage - therefore promiscuity and unfaithfulness is more common.
- Murphy suggests that children’s’ parents who live together but don’t marry do worse at school.
Why are other thinkers such as Beaujouan and Ni Bhrolchain (2011) more positive about increasing cohabitation?
Beaujouan and Ni Bhrolchain (2011):
- Cohabitation has become normalised.
- It acts as a Pre-marriage test or ‘trial run’.
- Screens out weaker relationships. (Decline in marriages ending before 5th anniversary).
Feminists: Cohabitation has led to more equality in gender roles.
Bernardes (1997):
- Divorce is less damaging than a negative marriage.
What are the key trends in the divorce rate in the last 50 years?
- The divorce rate rose fairly consistently between 1972 - 1993, where it peaked at 165,000 divorces
- From 1993 onwards, the general trend has been that the divorce rate is dropping, with 91,000 divorces in 2019
