Reasons for increase in divorce

Question 1

Divorce rates

Answer 1

The number of marriages ending in divorce is about five times higher than it was fifty years ago, with around half of new marriages today ending in divorce.

The UK has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.

Question 2

Equality

Answer 2

Changes in the law over the last one-hundred years or so have made divorce easier and cheaper.
Men and women now have equal rights in divorce, for example, women can now initiate divorce.

Question 3

Cost

Answer 3

Since the introduction of legal aid, divorce has become much cheaper, making it available to people who previously were unable to afford it.

Question 4

Legal changes

Answer 4

In 1969 divorce law was changed so that it was no longer necessary to prove that a partner was guilty of a matrimonial offence and now a divorce can be granted because the marriage has broken down beyond repair (known as ‘irretrievable differences’).

Question 5

Equality

Answer 5

Due to growing equality between men and women, women are now less willing to accept the traditional patriarchal nature of marriage, such as domestic labour and segregated roles.

More women are now in paid employment, so they are less financially dependent on their husbands.

Question 6

Contraception

Answer 6

The wider availability of safe and effective contraception means that it’s now safer to have sex with more than one person during marriage, this weakens traditional constraints on fidelity to a marriage partner, potentially exposing relationships to greater instability.

Question 7

Religion

Answer 7

The decline in influence of religion (secularisation) means that marriage has lost its religious significance as a sacred and spiritual union so it is more easily abandoned if it fails.

Question 8

Stigma

Answer 8

There is less social stigma attached to divorce than there once was, and divorce is now no longer regarded as scandalous.

Question 9

Functionalists

Answer 9

Functionalists (e.g. Parsons and Fletcher) argue that the divorce rate had risen because couples (and in particular, women) now demand more love, companionship, understanding, compatibility and fulfilment in their relationships and if these aren’t present they are more likely to separate.