Examine the changes in the rate of divorce since 1969

The Sex Discrimination enhanced the position of women since 1969 and therefore women and men were treated the same. As women were there from, paid the same as men, they did not depend on their husbands for their money and could rely on their own full-time working selves to bring home the cash. This saw a rise in the amount of divorce and women are no longer reliant on men or the state for that matter as women were working full time, just like their husbands. However, as women were now working full-time, they may not have time for the children which lead to a broken family. Therefore, suggesting that divorce is not all positive for women but has negative ideologies also. However, feminist Barnard (1976) argues that divorce grows acceptable as women become more informed of patriarchal oppression and therefore are able to escape it more easily and more informed, therefore, increasing the rate of divorce since 1969. However, if  women are working full-time and are able to escape their patriarchal marriages as they are more aware, then why is it they marry into the ‘main factor of patriarchal oppression’ in the first place?  Some might argue that women will marry to fulfil their ‘childhood dreams’ or to satisfy the church.

Despite this idea, it is commonly known that there has been a rapid decline in the influence of religion in the last 50 years. This may be due to the Sex Discrimination Act itself, as back in 1975, mothers would have taken their children to church every day while their husbands were out working. But now, thanks to the act, women do not have time for church or religion and are more likely to pray at home, if to pray at all. This fall of religion has led to the rapid decline in religious traditions of marriage and also, the increase in the rate of divorce. In 2001, the census proved that 47% of atheists were cohabitating compared to 34% of Christians whereas in a perfect world, it would be zero. However, Functionalists argue that marriage is still happening and that just because some marraiges end in divorce, there are still many happy couples. They also argue that divorce can result in re-marriage and therefore, divorce isn’t such a bad idea. The high rate of re-marriage shows that people are still committed to the idea of being with someone forever and the high divorce rates are a result of high expectations of marriage.

People have huge expectations of marriage and it is a major cause in the rise of divorce rates. This is because people are more determined to find ‘the one’ and be with them forever. For this reason alone, more people are marrying later and divorcing as well. Fairy-tale ideologies of having a prince charming are the result of faster communication, technology and media. Thanks to teen romance movies and ‘chick flicks’, young teenage girls think that it is more normalised to wait or to divorce someone in order to find their perfect partner. However, a fair few of these ‘rom-coms’ steal the idea of a divorced couple getting back together and pretending like it never happened. In that sense, it is true that divorce rates are rising, but maybe the meaning of the divorce isn’t real, or that a small percentage of those divorces in the UK and around the world are remarriages to the same people. Fletcher (1966) argues that marriages do continue to be popular and most adults marry. He argues that the high number of remarriages though, shows us that society has not rejected marriage as an institution. However, Fletcher does not explain what this high number of divorces means for society if remarriages are present. The idea of people getting divorced through celebrity couples, TV programmes and films hints at the idea that divorce isn’t a problem and that it is becoming more normalised.

The last factor affecting the rate of divorce is that divorce is becoming more common and therefore more standardised. The decline in stigma (the negative label attributed to divorce) and the changing attitudes of divorce have meant that it has become more socially acceptable as couples are more likely to see divorce as a way to solve marital problems. However, this is not always the case, as there are more options to solve martial problems without finalising any divorce papers. For example, one option is separation, where the couple are still legally bound; however they do not live together and do not share leisure time with one another. Another option which is far less common is desertion where one partner will just get up and leave without consulting the other. But as these are fair less common than divorce, probably due to the fact that neither of these options legally terminates that marriage, gives the idea that those divorcing, probably want or have the intention to remarry after the divorce. This sees the rapid decline in stigma attached to divorce as it is more available. Mitchell and Goody (1997) argue that the decline in stigma was a very important change since the 1960s, concerning divorce.

To conclude, the main rate of divorce sine 1969 is that it has risen over the years thanks to the impact of above reasons, the main effector being the change in law, and the Sex Discrimination Act, as supported by Liberal Feminists. This was because the law was not a specific law for divorce but informed that women were to be as equal as men and therefore had influenced that factors and ideas that changed the rate of divorce, such as the changes in law, the change in women’s position, secularisation, high expectations of marriage and the decline in stigma.