divorce

• Divorce


  The legal dissolution of a marriage
• In 1911, there were 859 divorce applications
• During the last century

  Divorce rate increased dramatically
• The number of divorces doubled between 1961 and 1969
• The number of divorces doubled again by 1972
• Divorce peaked in 1993 at 180,000 per annum
• Numbers have fallen since, but in 2020, there were 103,592 divorces granted in England and Wales
• Currently, one in every two new marriages ends in divorce (51.5%)
• More women than men petition for divorce
• Women petitioned for 62% of divorces in England and Wales in 2019
• Unreasonable behaviour was the most common reason for wives petitioning for divorce among opposite-sex couples in 2020, accounting for 47.4% of petitions
• For husbands, the most common reason for divorces was a two-year separation
• Changes in the Law


  Changes in the law have made it easier to obtain a divorce
• Divorce in 19th Century Britain


  1. Divorce was particularly hard to obtain, especially for women

  2. 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act allowed ordinary people to divorce in law courts

  3. Only way granted to a husband was if wife committed adultery and wife could initiate divorce if husbands adultery was compounded by life-threatening cruelty, desertion for two years, incest, bigamy, sodomy, bestiality or rape

  4. Very costly and complex as involved trial with a judge, barristers and so on-only the wealthy could afford

  5. Between 1700 and 1857, there were 314 such Acts, most of them initiated by husband
• Changes in divorce law since

  1. Government policy has been modified for needs of those on lower incomes, women and children

  2. Costs are now cheaper

  3. Grounds for divorce have widened

  4. 1923, the Matrimonial Causes Act -women equal rights with men in the grounds they could cite for divorce

  5. 1937, the Matrimonial Causes Act widened the grounds for divorce

  6. The Legal Aid Act of 1949 made it possible for people on low incomes to obtain financial help with the legal costs of divorce
• 1969 Divorce Reform Act


  1. Introduced the no-fault divorce

  2. Breakdown of marriage was seen as sufficient grounds for divorce

  3. Neither needed to be found at fault, as separation for two years was considered sufficient grounds if both agreed, or separation for five years if one contested
• 1996 Family Law Act


  1. No need to show either partner was at fault to prove the marriage had broken down

  2. Partners simply had to assert that the marriage had broken down and undergo a 'period of reflection', normally a year, to consider whether a reconciliation was possible
• 2002 legislation


  Required spouses to pay a fixed proportion of their income towards childcare costs if they did not have custody of the child/children
• Changes to the law have resulted in an increase in the divorce rate
• The divorce rate has risen at times when there have been no legislative changes e.g. during the 1960s
• Legislative changes do not, in themselves, explain why more people choose to get divorced
• Declining Stigma


  People became more tolerant to idea of divorce
• Secularisation


  Decline in the influence of religion in society and on individuals' lives
• Marriage initially a religious ceremony binding two individuals together under the eyes of God
• Due to secularisation, churches' opposition to divorce isn't that relevant in society and people are less likely to be influenced by religious teachings when making decisions about personal matters like divorce
• Married couples now are more likely to divorce rather than remaining in an unhappy marriage
• Changes in the Position of Women

  • Female attitudes towards marriage and family life have undergone a 'genderquake'
  • They no longer prioritise marriage and children as their mums and grandmothers may have
  • They want to put educational opportunities to use and take advantage of the feminisation of the labour force
• Changes in women's priorities

  • In 1970's, love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs/careers
  • In 1990, education and career
• Equal pay and anti-discriminatory laws

  • Narrowed pay gap and allowed women to be paid the same
  • More women entering workforce
  • Lone parent- welfare benefits are available
  • Improvements in women's economic position have made them less financially dependent on their husband and so are freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage
• A lot of women are still enduring a triple shift (paid work, domestic work and emotion work)
• Mothers who have a dual burden of paid and domestic work are more likely to divorce than non-working mothers in marriages with a traditional division of labour
• Marriage benefits men more than women-could explain why more divorce petitions are filed by women than by men
• Individualism & Rising Expectations of Marriage


  • The rise in divorce reflects increasing value that is placed on marriage
  • People expect and demand more from marriage, and are more likely to end a relationship rather than remain in an 'empty-shell marriages'
  • Modernism with its emphasis on individual achievement raises expectations of personal satisfaction and describes a shift towards 'confluent love' and 'pure relationships'
  • Marriage has become an event for more emotional reasons, based on the ideology of romantic love
  • Individuals being more free to pursue their own interests is referred to as the 'individualisation thesis'
• In the past, individuals often had no choice in who they married and marriages were often contracted largely for practical and economic reasons or out of duty to one's family
• Reasons for changes in divorce 

  Changes in the Law

  Declining Stigma & Secularisation

  Changes in the Position of Women

  Individualism & Rising Expectations of Marriage 
• Changes in the law

  1. 1857 Matrimonial Act - allowed normal people to get divorce if woman cheated or man did crazy stuff like incest or bestiality

  2. 1923 Matrimonial Causes Act - women could cite for divorce for adultery alone if they could prove it

  3. 1937 Matrimonial Causes Act - allowed more reasons for divorce like drunkenness, insanity and desertion

  4. 1949 Legal Aid Act - helped afford divorce

  5. 1969 Divorce Reform Act - introduced no-fault divorce, breakdown of marriage was seen as sufficient grounds

  6. 1996 Family Law Act - no need to show either partner was at fault to prove marriage had broken down

  7. 2002 new legislation - required spouses to pay a fixed proportion of income towards childcare costs if they did not have custody
• Changes to the law have resulted in an increase in the divorce rate
• The divorce rate has risen at times when there have been no legislative changes, e.g. during the 1960s
• Consequently, legislative changes do not, in themselves, explain why more people choose to get divorced
• Declining Stigma & Secularisation

   people became more tolerant to idea of divorce. .since 1960s has been a rapid decline in the stigma attached to divorce due to secularisation , churhces opposition to divorce isnt that relevant in soicety and less likely be influenced  by religious teachings when making decisions about personal matters like divorce .