Marriage + Divorce

• Feminist view of decrease in marriage and increasing divorce

  • Positive; reflects the greater empowerment of women
• What has been the trend in divorce from 1968?

  > 1968 average 40,000 divorces

  > 1978 average 120,000
• What happened in 1969 that caused in increase in divorce?

  Divorce Reform Act
• What did the divorce reform act mean?

  > Enabled 'no fault'

  > Meaning an individual did not need grounds to file for divorce

  > Whereas in the past, women needed to prove that their husband was

  at fault of two offences
• New Right + Functionalist view of marriage and divorce trends

  Bad because they represent the breakdown of the nuclear family, therefore social order, and increase in social problems
• Postmodernist view of marriage and divorce trends

  Not a problem

  It is part of the shift to a postmodern society in which people have more choice and freedom
• Marxist view of marriage and divorce trends

  > The result of competition for power and resources between spouses

  > Unequal access to resources may lead to frustration, meaning people

  are unable to maintain their marriage

  > WC Families
• What % of marriages are expected to end in divorce by the 20th anaversary

  34%
• Giddens


  Modern relationships are built on intimacy, where in the past they were constructed around duty

  Confluent love

  Pure relationships
• Confluent love


  Modern relationships that only last as long as partners fu=ind satisfaction and fulfilment
• Marriage patterns since 1990

  • Increased divorce rates
  • Fewer first marriages, more re-marriages
  • More cohabitation
  • Later life marriages
  • More lone parent families
  • More couples without children
• Divorce patterns since 1990

  • 65% of divorce applications come from women (today)
  • 37% came from women in 1946
• 1857 Divorce

  Men could divorce unfaithful wives

  Wives had to ALSO prove husbands' cruelty or other offence

  It was also expensive
• 1923 Divorce

  Grounds for divorce equalised between men and women
• 1969 Divorce

  DRA

  > Irretrievable breakdown; adultery, unreasonable behaviour etc
• Reasons for increase in divorce

  1. Changes in law
  2. Declining stigma
  3. Secularisation
  4. Women's increased independence
• Changes in the law - divorce reasons

  > Equalising grounds between sexes

  > Widening grounds for reasons

  > Making it cheaper
• Declining stigma- divorce reasons

  > Divorce becomes more socially acceptable, couples are more willing

  > As divorce becomes more common, it begins to normalise
• Secularisation- divorce reasons

  > Declining influence of religion in society; traditional opposition to

  divorce from the church carries less weight

  > Churches begin to soften their views on divorce, for fear of losing

  credibility
• Women's increased independence- divorce reasons

  > Improvements on their economic position enables them to no longer

  need a husband to support them

  > Anti-discrimination laws help to lower the pay gap
• Women's financial independence criticism - divorce reasons

  WC Families stay together
• Secularisation criticism

  Religion isn't becoming less influential, just in marriages. Secularisation started in the early 1900's, emergence of science
• Changes in law criticism

  There is still stigma and family pressure. Some people still don't have financial security.
• Declining stigma criticism 


  Some communities view divorce much more negatively.