Family- Marriage and Marital Decline Flashcards
statistics as well as theories about marital decline
Two sociologists who believe family is on the decline
Almond: families are less about children and more about “two individuals who either love or need the other”
Patricia Morgan: “more cohabitation, less married people, childbirth outside of marriage and increased numbers living alone” indicate the fall of the family
Statistics and projections to support fall in marriage
400k first marriages in 1960s dropping to under 200k per year by 2003.
82.3 in 1971 to 24.7 in 2004. (first marriage rates)
Projection by the Actuary Dept. suggests that only 66% of men will have been married by 45-61yrs in 2031.
Cohabitation statistics
rise from 11% to 24% in men
13% to 25% for women
(Social Trends 2006)
Who’s worried about cohabitation and what do they say?
Patricia Morgan:
“reflects and increase in sexual partners and partner change, less than 4% stay together for more than 10 years”
What does Chandler say about cohabitation?
Nothing new- “Self-marriages” existed a for a long time.
However, it has become an “alternative to marriage”
Attitudes towards Cohabitation (Statistics)
1994 vs 2000, Barlowe et. al.
“People should get married to have kids” (70% to 54%)
“Premarital sex is fine” (42% to 62%)
“It’s fine to live together and never be married” (67%)
Attitudes towards Marriage (Statistics)
only 9% said “There is no point in getting married”), 73% heavily disagreed.
59% say marriage is “the best kind of relationship”
Nicky Hart 3 areas
Changes in VALUES ATTACHED TO MARRIAGE
Changes in CONFLICTS IN MARRIAGE
Changes in OPPORTUNITIES TO GET OUT OF MARRIAGE
“The Value of Marriage” in Marital breakdowns– Functionalists
Parsons and Fletcher- “an increase valuation of marriage leads to more marital breakdowns” , more divorce means more love of marriage
Expect the best, don’t settle for less <3
Conflict between spouses- Functionalists
Adaptation of fmaily functions causes strains on marital relationships.
Goode- no kin, isolated nuclear fam, more fragile
Leach: “family operates within an emotional overload”
N Dennis: “when loves goes, there is nothing left holding a family together anymore due to specialization in other functions”
Allan and Crow
Marriage has less and less to do with the economy, as a result, the taxes or the economic benefits do not corss people’s minds. husband and wife are not economically co-dependent, so they divorce more.
Divorce Legislation Timeline
1857: ONLY matrimonial offence
1950: matrimonial offence expands into cruelty and desertion
1971: NO FAULT DIVORCE. “irretrievable breakdown of marriage:
1984: only 1 year and you can divorce!
Is it just an exaggeration?
Abbot and Wallace= info is manipulated by the New Right and similar movements to highlight bad things and hide good ones
Sommerville: yeah, it’s exaggerated.
New Rights: no it’s not!!
also link: Robert Chester
Post Modernity
Gibson: freemarket of choice and individualism, galmourization of consumeristic notions leads to self-interest searches that lead to divorce
Allan and Crow: “marriages are no longer binding ideas or contracts, simply a new relationship from which people seek to derive satisfaction.
also link: Beck & Beck, Anthony Giddens
