9f

• when were civil partnerships introduced

  2004
• when was same-sex marriage legalised in the uk

  2014
• what are 4 key changes in marriage happening currently

  fewer people are marrying

  remarriages are increasing

  people are marrying later

  couples are less likely to marry in church
• what are 5 reasons for the decrease in first marriages


  changing attitudes

  secularisation

  declining stigma

  changes in the positions of women

  fear of divorce
• why has the age of marrying increased


  young people are in education for longer, focus on careers first, cohabit first
• why have church weddings decreased


  secularisation, some churches refuse to marry divorcees
• what is the average age of marrying

  40.4
• how much has the number of same-sex couples cohabiting increased in 3 years

  50%, now at 232,000
• how many cohabiting heterosexual couples are there in Britain

  3 million
• how many of these are 'serial cohabitants'

  1/5
• what percentage of uk families do cohabiting couple families make up

  17%
• what are 5 reasons for a rise in cohabitation


  decline in stigma of sex outside marriage

  the young are more likely to accept cohabitation

  women have less need for financial security of marriage than in the past

  secularisation

  linked to notions of pure relationships in late modernity
• how many young people support cohabitation

  88% of 18-24 year olds think it's ok compared to 40% of those over 65
• what percentage of cohabiting couples intend to marry each other

  75% - ernestina coast 2006
• who says cohabitation is part of the process of getting married

  robert chester 1985
• who said cohabitation among young people represents a conscious attempt to create a more negotiated and equal relationship


  andre bejin 1985
• what was the divorce rate in 2019

  8.9 per 100,000 married couples
• when is there a higher chance of divorce

  in the first 5 to 7 years and then after 10 to 14 years
• which class has a higher rate of divorce

  the working class
• what type of couple is most likely to get divorced

  childless couples from different social, racial or religious backgrounds
• what are 8 reasons for a rise in divorce


  changes in law

  expansion of welfare benefits

  declining stigma and changing attitudes

  secularisation

  rising expectations of marriage

  the changing role of women

  feminist explanations

  the rise in individualism
• when was legal aid for divorce introduced and what did it do

  1949, it made divorce cheaper
• when did the divorce reform act come into effect and what did it mean


  1971 (created 1969), it introduced 'irretrievable breakdown, before this, couples had to prove a 'marital offence' had taken place - cruelty, desertion, adultery
• what did the divorce, dissolution and separation act of 2020 do


  removed the requirement to apportion blame for irretrievable breakdown such as 'unreasonable behaviour
• who argues for the rising expectations of marriage

  fletcher, he says due to this, people are less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage
• what did bernard 1976 argue


  women were feeling a growing dissatisfaction with patriarchal marriage, illustrated by more petitions for divorce coming from women
• what does the new right say about the rise in divorce


  it creates a problem for society, leading to more single parents and therefore welfare dependency

  benson 2011 - marriage is more stable than cohabitation
• what do feminists say about the rise in divorce


  women are breaking free from patriarchal nuclear families, it also gives women a chance to escape violent marriages
• what do postmodernists and individualists say about the rise in divorce


  it shows how people are making freer choices and are not as bound by obligation or tradition
• what does the personal life perspective say about the rise in divorce

  it can cause problems, financial and contact with children, it has become normalised

  we should see it as 'one transition among others on the life course