Marriage and Cohabitation Flashcards
What was marriage traditionally in the UK
It was monogamous and for life
What has the UK society been moving towards
A social trend know as serial monogamy. Over the course of their lives, people are now more likely to establish a series of monogamous long-term relationships
What was marriage like prior to the 1970s
Most weddings were religious ceremonies conducted in church
What was marriage like in 2012
Church ceremonies were a minority due to secularisation. Most weddings in 2012 were civil ceremonies carried out in approved buildings such as hotels or stately homes. Even register office weddings are in decline.
Statistics on number of marriages in 1940 and 2012
1940 there was 470,000 marriages
2012 there was 262,000 marriages
Since 1970s marriage has significantly declined
Statistics on the age in which people would get married in 1972 and 2012
1972 the age to get married was 28 and 26
2012 the age to get married was 36 and 34
Statistics on the year women were born and what age they got married
Women being born in 1940, 91% of those were married by 30
Women born in 1960, 77% were married by 30
Women born in 1980, 37% were married by 30
What was the main type of marriage in 2012
Remarriages
When did remarriages begin to rise
They were rare until the 1970s, as the 1969 Divorce reform act came into affect early 1971
What does cohabitation refer to
Those couples who live together outside of marriage or are in a civil partnership
In the past how was cohabitation viewed
It was frowned upon and regarded as sinful and immoral
How long to couples cohabit together before they marry
Around four years
Statistics on how many couples cohabit before marriage
80% of marrying couples have previously cohabited with each other
Statistic on the number of people aged above 16 living together outside of marriage in 1996 and 2012
1996 it was 6.5%
2012 it was 11.7%
Statistic on how many cohabiting opposite sex couples in 2014
In 2014 there was 3 million
Statistic on childbearing in cohabitation in 2015
In 2015 one in three children were born to cohabiting parents
Statistic on the recent increase in cohabitation
It has increased by 30% between 2004 and 2014 - which is becoming the fastest growing family type in the UK
Statistic on how much of families in the UK are cohabiting
16.4% of families in the UK
Evidence from Beaujouan and Ni Bhrolchain (2011) about cohabitation
They found that cohabitation before marriage may actually strengthen the martial relationship and make it less likely to break down into divorce
What is the evidence about poorer couples and cohabitation
For poorer couples, cohabitation may provide a living arrangement that reflects their economic uncertainty. Young couples with low-paid jobs may choose to cohabit because it helps them to leave the parental home, by sharing living costs such as rent.
Has there been an increase in elderly people cohabiting
There has been a big increase in elderly people choosing to cohabit
What are the four reasons that Marriage has declined and Cohabitation has increased
- Changing social attitudes
- The decline in family values
- Individualisation
- Changes in women’s roles and attitudes
Up until 1960s what were the social attitudes
They were extremely conservative because society subscribed to fairly rigid ideas about morality, probably because religion was still influential
What were most couples expected to do
To marry before living together and having children
What were cohabitation, sex before marriage and having children out of marriage met with
Social and Moral disapproval
Sixty years ago what would pregnancy out of marriage result in
‘Shotgun weddings’ were couples were forced by both sets of parents to marry because of the potential social embarrassment or shame to both sets of families.
Have the conservative attitudes disappeared and what have they been replaced with
Yes, they have been replaced by with more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality, sex before marriage, and having children outside of marriage
What are families no longer expected to conform to
The traditional nuclear family ideal. Cohabitation and family diversity are now considered the norm.
What are the liberalisation of attitudes connected to
The secularisation of the UK - a steep decline in Christian beliefs and practices
What did New right thinker Patricia Morgan suggest
That the popularity of cohabitation, gay marriage and the number of babies born outside marriage are symptoms of a decline in morality and the failure of the government and state polices to safeguard traditional family values
What do Beck and Beck-Gernshiem (1995) argue about individualisation
That the defining feature of late modernity is individualisation. This means that people put their own needs first and foremost.
They argue people now feel they can best fulfil their needs as individuals by pursuing looser, less risky intimate arrangements such as singlehood, cohabitation and living apart together
What does Anthony Giddens (1992) argue
That the UK has entered a period of late-modernity in which there has been a transformation of intimacy and love.
He argues that people no longer seek the sort of romantic love traditionally associated with marriage
What does Giddens say that romantic love has been replaced by
‘confluent love’ in which individuals only emotionally invest in one another so long as they see a constant return from that love
What does Giddens suggest about his new type of love
The increasing dominance of the idea confluent love means that people are less likely to invest in long-term relationships or work at them if they go wrong.
People may therefore be more attracted to short-term relationships or affairs because these contain passion and the return on intimacy.
People may be willing to cohabit which they see as risk-free, but are unwilling to commit to marriage as that is too risky in terms of commitment and investment in making it work
What is Jamieson (2002) research on
Why couples cohabit rather than immediately marry
What did Jamison’s (2002) research find
She found evidence on individualisation - many of the couples she questioned said they couldn’t see any immediate advantage in getting married, cohabitation allowed them to test if they want to commit to each other.
What is the evidence on confluent love in Jamieson’s research
That confluent love is important as cohabitation was a test to see if intimacy could be sustained over a period of time. Cohabitation allowed those who questioned their partners commitment to leave without any legal requirements
Consequently what did Jamieson’s research find about traditional ideas
That romantic love and the idea that ‘marriage is the best institution in which to bring up children’ still underpinned peoples motives to set up home with one another
What is the most important reason for the changing patterns of marriage
Changing role of women
Up to the 1980s what was the main goals of women
Marriage and starting up a family
In the 1960s and 1970s what were the feminist theory very critical of and why
Of marriage. They described it as a ‘legalised form of prostitution’ and as a patriarchal institution aimed at the social control of women.
What did Sue Sharpe find in her sociological study if teenage girls in the 1980s
She observed that marriage and family life had fallen well behind education and careers as priorities
What did Langford (1999) find
That many women fear being alone and that having a loving relationship with a man was still an important goal because love was seen to alleviate the alienation of work and an impersonal world.
However what did Langford also note consequently
That there is a ‘dark side’ to love, marriage and relationships represented by domestic violence, psychological and emotional manipulation and the bullying of women by men who seek to control them.
Is marriage still healthy to this day
Yes it is
What did one survey clearly show about the continuing importance of marriage
People see marriage as the ultimate goal and that cohabitation is seen as a rehearsal for marriage rather than as an alternative to it.
Why are most women delaying marriage
Because more of them are entering higher education and because they are more career-orientated
Statistic about remarriage
About a third of marriages are undertaken by people whose previous marriage has failed. The experience of one failing marriage has clearly not put them off marriage at all
Statistic about married couples and family types
Married couples are the most common family type in the UK, making up 12.5 million of the 18.6 million families that do exist
