Secondly, secularisation, people are less religious today, so they do not pay as much attention to the religious consequences. Marriage, perhaps, is seen as a less sacred ritual now and is more of a personal commitment rather than a religious one. Today only around 45% of marriages today happen in a religious environment and the church do not view divorce as seriously as they used to. Some people may see a marriage as more “disposable” as they were before.
Also, due to the media, television and cinema there is an higher expectation of marriage, and if these expectations are not reached then they may feel unsatisfied with their marriage. Also, there is less tolerance in a marriage today. Graham Allan and Graham Crow (2001) state that “incompatibilities which were once tolerated are now seen as intolerable” they go on to say that when there was a loss of love between a marital couple it was seen as “unfortunate, but bearable”, but because of new law you can easily get out of this loss of love, through the clause of “irretrievable breakdown”, which was included in the 1969 Divorce Reform Act.
Today women are more independent; they can get a job, with equal pay (although feminists would beg to differ) and support themselves on their own income. Around ¾ of divorces today are petitioned by women rather than men and about 7 out of ten of all divorces are granted to women. This could suggest that more women are unhappy with their marriages today and are not willing to be the stereotypical housewife anymore. The welfare state is also there to support those women who can’t get on their own feet financially; this is useful to single mothers who have emerged from a divorce.
From a Functionalist point of view, such as that of Talcott Parsons, the reason why there has been an increase in marital breakdowns is because marriage is increasingly valued. People demand more from a marriage today, and a marriage that may have been perfectly fine forty years ago is not today. Ronald Fletcher, a functionalist (1966), argued “a relatively high divorce rate may be indicative not of lower but of higher standards of marriage in society”. However, research suggests otherwise. The British Social Attitudes Survey (2001) outlines that most people do not see marriage as “just a piece of paper”, on the other hand, they see cohabitation as a reasonable alternative to marriage.
Functionalists would also argue that because the family have adapted to the requirements of the economic system strains are put upon them. Edmund Leech (1967) says that the nuclear family suffers from an “emotional overload”, as an effect there is more conflict in a marital relationship.
Increasing life expectancy is another factor as to the increase in divorce rates. People live longer, so they are more likely to get bored of their relationship, as they have to live with their partner for longer. So there is more time for a marriage to go wrong and breakdown.
