However, some sociologists will point out that greater freedom of choice in relationships means a greater risk of instability, since relationships are likely to break up. Additionally, sociologists may point out that if people decide to put off marriages due to educational requirements, they may end up not marrying at all, which as a result will have an influence the figures of single households.
Similarly, the number of remarriages has also drastically increased in recent years. Remarriages increased from 57000 in 1961 to 126000, almost forty-six per-cent of all marriages in 2000. Most serial monogamy involved divorced persons rather than widows and widowers. The Largest increase occurred between 1972 and 1972 following the introduction of the Divorce Reform Act of 1969.
Other aspects that have encouraged the changing patterns towards marriage is the awareness of Cohabitation. Cohabitation involves an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together. Statistics show that more people are adjusting to the idea cohabitation (living together). While the number of marriages has been falling, the number of couples cohabiting continues to escalate and is the fastest growing family type in the UK. Figures show that over a quarter of all non-married adults aged 16-59 were cohabiting – double the number in 1986. Furthermore the number of cohabiting couples is expected to double again by 2021.
However this does not mean to say that couples cohabiting will not get married, as social trends suggest that it is only a delay in tying the knot. A third of people who cohabited with a partner went on to marry them.
There are several reasons for couples cohabiting. They include the decline in the stigma attached to sex outside marriage, increased career opportunities for women may also mean they have less need for the financial security outside of marriage and are freer to opt for cohabitation. Others see cohabiting as a trial marriage where they intend to marry if it goes well. On the other hand other couples see cohabiting as a permanent alternative to marriage.
Contradicting these views some sociologists and feminists would argue giving the following points: Eleanor Macklm (1980) argues that the term covers a diverse range of partnerships, and that the relationship between marriage and cohabitation is complex and variable one. Shelton et al (1993) found that women who cohabit do less housework than their married counterparts.
Finally, a further explanation for the changes in marriage is the topic of Divorce. Since the 1960s, there has been a great increase in the number of divorce in the United Kingdom. The number of divorces have doubled between 1961 and 1969, and doubled again by 1972. The upward trend continued, peaking in 1993 at 180,000.
However, it decreased and to 157,000 in the year of 2001. Thus, portraying about forty per-cent of all marriages will end in divorce.
About seven out of every ten petitions (applications) for divorce now come from women. This is in sharp contrast to the situation in the past. For example, in 1946, only thirty-seven per-cent of petitions came from women –barely half today’s figure. The commonest reason for a woman to be granted divorce is the unreasonable behaviour of her husband.
Some couples are more likely than others to divorce. Couples whose marriages are at greatest risk include those who marry young, have a child before they marry or cohabit before marriage, and those where one or both partners have been married before.
Functionalist sociologists such as Ronald Fletcher (1966), argue that the higher expectations people place on marriage today are a major cause of rising divorce rates. Higher expectations make couples nowadays less willing to tolerate an unhappy marriage.
Another side of the argument is that, feminists argue that the oppression of women within the family is the main cause of marital conflict and divorce. Additionally feminists also argue that the fact that women are now wage earners as well as homemakers has created a new source of conflict between husbands and wives and this is leading to more divorces. Feminists argue that marriage remains patriarchal (male dominated), with men benefiting from their wives’ ‘triple-shifts’ of paid work, domestic work and emotion work.