Changing Social Attitudes
Until 1960s, social attitudes were extremely contra version and a strong sense of social pressure because society subscribed to rigid about morality, so religion is still influential
Social pressure due to marry before living together
Cohabitation, sex before marriage and having children outside marriage met by both social and moral disapproval
60 years ago, pregnancy could result in a shotgun wedding, so couples are forced by both sets a parent due to traditional views, so they don’t want to shame or embarrassment
Normal for woman to be sent to live with relatives for a month and have family pressure to give it up for adoption or brought up by grandparents
Largely disappeared today because they are replaced with more liberal attitudes towards
- Homosexuality
- Sex before marriage
- Children before marriage
Sociologists argue it is becoming more socially accepted so supported by British social attitudes survey in 2013 so in 1989 found 71% of people agreed with statement and in 2012 found 42% agreed
Views on sex before marriage were even more liberal believing it was rarely wrong or not wrong at all
The Decline on Family Values
Families are no longer expected to conform to the traditional nuclear family ideal
Cohabitation and family diversity = norm
Liberalisation of attitudes relates to secularisation is in UK experience steep decline in Christian beliefs and practices over the last 50 years
New right thinkers say the declining popularity of marriage is seen as part of a more general weakening of what they refer to as traditional family values
Marriage is the bedrock of stable family life
Cohabitation are more likely to break up than marriages
Practicia Morgan suggest that the popularity of cohabitation, gay marriage and babies born outside marriage, so she sees as a weak institution
Are symptoms of a decline in morality
In recent years, there has been a failure of the government and state polities to safeguard traditional family values
Governments have been given insufficient support to marriage both through public support for marriage as on institution and financial support as through tax and benefits system for married couples bringing up children
Labour governments of 1997-2010 was accused of bias against the nuclear family and marriage so Gordan Brown abolished the marriage couple tax allowance
Individualisation
Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995) argue that these changes reflect the growing tend towards individualisation in late modernity
Individuals are no longer bound by traditional social norms and loyalty to families
Seek a lifestyle and relationship that fulfil their needs as individuals
Put their own needs first and foremost so becomes selfish so driven a desire to avoid personal rick and to put their own interest before the interest of society
Argue that people feel they can break fulfil their needs as individuals by pursing so looser less risky intimate arrangements such as singlehood alternatives and LAT such as cohabitation, LAT and staying single so offering freedom less risk than conventional marriage
Anthony Gidden (1992)
Presents a similar perspective, arguing the UK entered a period of late modernity so based on idea of lifelong commitment to a partner
Growth in confluent love, where individuals enter more temporary and fragile intimate relationships
Cohabitation as an alternative form of commitment
Jamieicon et al (2002)
Couples living together without marrying represent a reduced willingness to create and honour lifelong partnership
Carried out as survey and in-depth interviews with sampling of 20-29-year olds living in urban area of Scotland they found that most of cohabitating couples strongly stressed their commitment
Questioned the idea that they would gain only added value in marriage
Perceived cohabitation as a try and see strategy part way to the perceived full commitment of marriage
Nation that marriages is better for children also continued to support among respondents
Suggested the rise of cohabitation does not represent a turning away from committed relationships rather it offers an alternative to marriage so albeit one that in some cases may precede marriage
Changing Role of Woman
Feminists have often seen traditional marriage as a patriarchal institution
Past centuries a marriage involved a woman passing from control of her father to husband
Radical feminist – Germaine Greer (2000) therefore see the decline in the popularity of marriage as a positive development so resulting from woman’s unwillingness to accept oppression by their husbands
Woman today also have more options than in early 20th century
Better educated and have much better job opportunities
Sue Sharpe carried out 2 studies of working-class girls in 1970s and 1990s in London
First study (1976) girls’ priorities for the future tended to be love, marriage, husbands and children
When repeated 20 years later in same school in 1994 girls were more confident and ambitious such as education, careers and financial independence
Important reason for the changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation is probably changing role in woman
Certainty up to 1980s marriage and starting were regarded as the main goals of woman
Longford (1999)
Found many women fear being alone and that having a loving relationship with a man is still important
Love was seen to alleviate then attention of works and an impersonal world
Dark side to love, marriage and relationships are represented by domestic violence, psychological and emotional manipulation and bulling by men who see control
Love is still seen as the natural basis
Importance of Marriage
Marriage is still healthy today
Survey clearly showed that many people see marriage as the goal
Cohabitation is seen as a rehearsal for marriage rather than alternative
Woman are delaying marriage due to them going to higher education and getting a career, so career orientated
Popularity of marriage can be seen by remarriage
About a third marriages are undertaken by people who present marriage failed in 2012
Experience has clearly not put them off marriage
Families needed by married couples are the most common type in UK today, constituting 12.5 million so 67% of 18.6 million families exist in 2013
High level of divorce has clearly not deterred many people from trying marriage again
Singlehood
Cohabitation represents one alternative to marriage; an increasing proportion of people are remaining single
Non-family households have considered reasons for the growth in people living alone
One significant change noted by some sociologists is in attitudes to remaining single
Relatively recently because being single was regarded by many people as a negative status compared to being in a couple
Terms such as old maid, spinster and left on the shelf were applied to older woman
In recent years, being single has become glamour so assisted by media representation of young single person leading fulfilling lives on TVV such as friends
Sociologists use the term creative singlehood to describe how some people chose to remain single as a lifestyle option
A study of never married people by Hall et al (1999) suggested that single people found a freedom in being solo so choose to concentrate on their careers rather than establishing a long-term relationship
Not all single people live alone
Health (2004)
Rise of the kippers
Young people who continue to live with parents after they compare education so save money so keeping parents retirement money
In 2011, 1/3 men and 1/6 woman aged 20-34 were still delaying setting up their own home so fully entering adult world remaining in an ambiguous state of adult kids
Martial Breakdown and Divorce
Types pf Material Breakdown
Divorce is a legal ending of marriage
Not all martial breakdown ends in divorce
Impossible to know how many marriages in past broke down so mid-19th century divorce was virtually impossible to obtain such as many unhappy marriages, staying together to maintain outward appearances so remained empty shell
Empty shell marriages so they live together but apart because divorce many be regarded as shameful or sinful by community
May not get divorced due to religion
They may not morally approve
They may stay together for financial reasons
Sake of the children
Maintained outward appearance of respectability
Dramatic increase in the number of divorces
Cautious about if this indicates an increase in the number of martial breakdowns
Divorce rate per thousand married population increased in England and wales from 5.9 in 1974 to a peak of 14.2 in 1994
Between 1995 and 2000 it decreased to 12.7 but began raising again after 2001 to 14 in 2004
In 2013 it decreased to 9.8 which is the lowest level of 40 years
Trends in Divorce
Measured statistically in different ways
Simplest measure is the number of divorces when are based on records from court complied in official statistics
Alternative is to calculate divorce rate
Widely used in UK is the number of divorces per 100 of married population, Eurostat so collects data from EU countries, uses a measure of divorces per 1000 of all adults married or unmarried
Divorce rates are more useful for comparison different countries as they have different populations
In 2011, the UK had a divorce rate of 2.1 per 1000 of all adults, considerable low than Latvia = 4.0 but much higher than Ireland – 0.5 so legalised in 1999
In 1960 there was 23’868 divorces in England and wales
Over next 3 decades the number of devices increase drastically so reaching a peak in 1993 at 165’018
Overall trend has been several divorces decreases and there was 118’140 in 2012
ONS estimated 42% of current marriages will end in marriage
Some sociologists, these changes represent the most significant change in family life of the last 100 year
Divorce Legalisation in England and Wales
1857 Matrimonial Causes Act
Set up civil divorce courts
Identified 3 matrimonial offences or grounds
- Adultery
- Cruelty
- Desertion
Difficult for woman as they did not gain the right to sue for divorce on the grounds of adultery until 1923
To gain a divorce, one partner had to prove the other guilty as often meant buying expensive barristers
1837 Matrimonial Cause
Extended the grounds for divorce but still had to prove the offence
1949 Legal Aid and Advice Act
Financial help was made available to help with high financial costs of divorce
1969 Divorce Reform Act
Effective in 1971
Dramatically changed access to divorce
Reduces the expenses of divorce because it took away the need for one partner to prove the other quality of fault
Awarded divorce if both partners agreed that the marriage had irretraceable broken down after 2 years separating so extended 5 years if one partner objects
1970s, a special procedure was introduced that allowed judges to deal with divorce cases without even attending court
Clear majority are dealt with using the quickies divorce procedure today
1980 Matrimonial Proceedings Act
Become effective in 1985
Reduces the time for which a couple had to be married before they could perform for divorce from 3 years to 1 year
1996 Family Law Act
Legalisation made cosmetic changes such as increased the amount of time a couple had divorce from 1 year to 18 months
Same act introduced a period of reflection in which the couple had to seek marriage counselling, so children involved both parents had to agree all custody and childcare arrangements before divorce
Abandoned because it was deemed too costly
An attempt by government to reduce the number of couples applying for divorce
2011 Practice Direction 3A
Directed divorcing couples to undertake medication before they were permitted to go to court, so solicitor attempts to resolve despite between them
An attempt to reduce the amount of time cases takin the over worked family courts