Divorce Rates

• Divorce Rate= number of divorces per married couple per 1000 per year.
• Around 42% of marriages will end in divorce.
• Changes in law has made divorce cheaper and easier for couples.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 1923


  Grounds for divorce equalised for men and women.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 1949


  Legal aid available.

  Making divorce more affordable.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 1969


  Divorce Law Reform Act passed.

  Matrimonial offence abolished. No need for proof/evidence to get divorce.

  Divorce available after 2 years agreed separation, or 5 years if only one wants to divorce.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 1984


  Minimum period after marriage before divorce reduced from 3 years to 1.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 1996

  Family Law Act encourages couples to seek mediation but allows divorce by agreement after a 'period of reflection.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 2004


  Civil Partnership Act allows for legal dissolution of a civil partnership on the same grounds as for marriage.
• DIVORCE LEGISLATION: 2014


  Same sex marriages became legalised.

  Same grounds for divorce apply for both.
• 3 Alternatives to divorce:

  1. Desertion= one partner walks out on other but there is no divorce.
  2. Legal Separation= official separation designed to give the couple time apart, in hope they can sort out their differences.
  3. Empty Shell Marriage= where the love is gone but the couple still live together.
• CHANGING SOCIAL ATTITIUDES:


  • Social normas & expectations have less hold on people today. There is less condemnation & shame around divorce.
  • BECK (POST MODERNIST)= rising divorce rate= product of the growing individualisation & uncertainty of post modern society.
  • All aspects of our lives= open to more choice & freedom= applies to our personal relationships.
• SECULARISATION:


  • Declining influence of religion in society.
  • GOODE & GIBSON= marriage becoming less sacred & spiritual= more of a practical arrangement that can be abandoned if it fails.
  • Today less than 1/3 of marriages involve a religious ceremony.
• RISING EXPECTATIONS:


  • PARSONS & FLETCHER (FUNCTIONALISTS)= rising divorce rates= couples (especially women) demand & expect more in their relationships today.
  • Higher expectations= couples likely to end a relationship.
• CHANGES IN POSITION OF WOMEN:

  • Expectations of life & quality of their relationships has risen.
  • Women in employment. Increased financial independence; reduced dependence on their husbands.
  • Less willing to accept patriarchal nature of marriage & the traditional role.
  • More women than men are unhappy with the state of their marriages & therefore are more likely to take the 1st steps in ending them.
• FEMINIST VIEWS ON DIVORCE:

  • New source of conflict between husbands & wives due to wives' bearing a bual burden= higher divorce rate.
  • HOCHSCHILD= for many women, home compares unfavourably with work. Work=valued. Home= frustration due to men's continuing resistance to doing housework= makes marriage less stable. Both in work= less time & energy for emotion work to address problems. Contributing to higher divorce rate.
  • BERNARD (RADICAL FEMINIST)= women becoming more conscious of patriarchal oppression & more confident abt rejecting it.
• VIEWS ON IMPACT OF DIVORCE

  NEW RIGHT: undesirable as it undermines the family. Creates an underclass of fatherless boys & lone parents dependent on welfare.

  FUNCTIONALISTS: Does not necessarily mean marriage & family are under threat. High rate of remarriage= people continuing commitment to marriage.

  PERSONAL LIFE PERSPECTIVE: can cause problems (e.g. financial difficulties) but has been 'normalised' & family life can adapt to it without disintegrating. Rather than seeing it as a major problem, see it as 'one transition amongst others in the life course'.