DIVORCE

• legal changes

  The 1969 Divorce Act allowed couples to get a divorce without reason, as long as they have been separated for at least 2 years

  The 2020 divorce act removed the requirement for a couple to prove a fault in order to divorce
• individualisation


  postmodernists argue people have more freedom of choice

  less constrained by traditional controls of morality
• secularisation


  reduce in religion

  fewer marriages but more divorce

  marriage isn't as sacred and not a sacred union any more

  less than a 1/3 of marriages are religious ceremonies
• reducing stigma


  divorce becomes more socially acceptable and couples are more willing to resort to divorce as a means of resolving marital issues
• rising expectations of marriage


  people have higher expectations of partners and marriage so there's a lower chance of lasting when someone does something the other doesn't like.

  functionalists say we demand more from marriage
• feminism and changes to the position of women

  2/3 of divorce petitions come from women

  more unhappy in marriages

  feminist expectations of life are higher, less willing to accept the patriarchal nature of marriage and family

  financial independence
• percentages of marriages ending in divorce before the 10th anniversary


  married in 1965 - 10%

  married in 1995 - 25%

  married in 2011 - 18%
• 1923

  grounds for divorce were equalised between men and women
• before 1923

  women divorcing on grounds of adultery had to prove the claim

  also had to prove additional faults which included cruelty, rape and incest
• 1937

  grounds were widened

  including drunkenness, insanity and desertion

  divorcing partner still had to provide proof
• 1969

  divorce reform act passed.

  allowed couples to divorce after their marriage had irretrievably broken down

  partners no longer had to prove fault as long as they lived apart for more than 2 years