However, the ‘Divorce Reform Act’ of 1969, which came into effect in 1971, it was no longer necessary for a spouse to prove their partner guilty of a matrimonial offence, they simply had to prove that the marriage was broken down beyond repair. This change in law led to huge increase in divorce after 1971.
However the law most responsible for the dramatic increase in divorces was ‘The Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act’ of 1984, this act allowed couples to petition for a divorce after only a year of marriage, previously couples had to of been married for at least three years. This change meant a dramatic increase in the number of couple divorcing each other. However, ‘The Family Law Act’ of 1996, was introduced in 1999, increased the length of marriage before divorce from one year to at least eighteen months. It also introduced compulsory counselling, and required the children’s wishes and the financial arrangements for them to be made before the divorce was granted. However, the compulsory counselling sessions were later abandoned as they seemed to be doing for damage than good and made couple want to go through with the divorce even more.
In spite of this, I think that society actually is the main reason as to the increase in divorce since 1970, due to many factors, such as the changing roles of women, growing secularization, changes in social attitudes amongst others.
The changing role of women is probably the most important reasoning behind the rise of divorce rate, as women care more for their career and are less willing to accept the housewife/motherly role within the family, as it means them having to sacrifice their own careers and independence to do their own leisure activities when they wish. Over the last century more and more married women are becoming employed to the extent of 75% of married women being employed by the end of the 20th century, increasing a females financial independence, resulting in a reduction of dependency on their husbands. Also due to the wide range of welfare stare benefits helping divorced women, those with children particularly, needs less of the financial assistance that comes with marriage. Welfare state benefits also make it easier for women with children to escape from unhappy marriages.
However women also expect more from a marriage than what their parents or grandparents, today a marriage is expected to last if the couple has love, understanding and sexual compatibility. Higher expectations mean that couples are more likely to end their relationship rather than when previous generations just settled for love and lasted. This also links closely with the reduction of functions carried out by the family, this is because if some or all of the supposed elements ‘disappear’ then there is nothing left to hold the marriage together, functionalist argue that this is due to the industrialization and that a number of functions that use to be carried out by the family have been transferred to other social institutions.
Another social reason to the increase in divorces is believed to be the growth of secularization; writers such as Good and C. Gibson argue that marriage is becoming less of a sacred union and more of a practical commitment that can be abandoned if it fails. This is evidential from the fact that more than 60% of marriage ceremonies are non religious. Despite this the church also now has a less rigid view on divorce resulting in a change in social attitudes, nowadays, divorce is more socially acceptable and less stigmatized, and because there is now less scandal attached to divorce procedures due to the ‘Divorce reform Act’ of 1969, people are more likely to apply for the legal termination of the marriage rather than separating because they are less afraid of the consequences.
The growth of privatized nuclear families is another social reasoning behind the increase in divorce rates; this is due to the lessening pressure from extended kin to retain marital ties hence putting increasing demands and expectations on the partner. Also due the privatization of the family it is no longer easy for partners to gain advice from relatives.
In conclusion the view that changes in the law led to the increase of divorces after 1970, even though thoroughly valid, it does seem to more to do with the social changes ongoing within communities, that have led to such a rapid increase in the number divorces.
Kat Quantrill...
