Marital Breakdown and Divorce

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Created by Mike Kell

Over the last 40 years, sociological research has provided statistics suggesting a significant increase in the number of marriages ending in divorce. In this essay I aim to justify this increase and explain why statistics may give a misleading picture. The way I have decided to structure this essay is firstly to look at a brief history of the laws governing divorce over the last century, then to discuss the statistics and finally to conclude with possible reasons and feasible explanations as to why there has been such an increase.

The divorce courts were first established in 1857, under the Matrimonial Causes Act, thus enabling the middle classes to get divorced. At this time there were only three grounds for divorce, being cruelty, insanity or desertion and were each as difficult to prove as the other. Also, obtaining a divorce was a very costly procedure. Prior to this, a divorce could only have been granted through a personal act of Parliament, which meant it would only have been affordable by the wealthy. In 1937, the Matrimonial Causes Bill was passed through the House of Lords, extending the grounds for divorce and for the nullity proceedings. This meant that divorce was now possible on the grounds of cruelty, incurable insanity of 5 years or desertion of three years, and, adultery or on the grounds of unnatural offences being committed by the husband. 1949 saw the introduction of Legal Aid for divorcing couples making divorce possible, and affordable, for all classes and not just the middle and upper classes and, in 1965, the Matrimonial Causes Act was updated. This enlarged the bill of 1937 and included the unnatural offences being elaborated on. It was now also possible to obtain a divorce on the grounds of rape, sodomy or bestiality although rape within marriage was not seen as a criminal offence until 1991. Then, in 1969, there was a major breakthrough in divorce legislation with the Divorce Reform Act. This meant that the courts would now recognise that a marriage could simply have broken down irretrievably taking away the issue of guilt and the Matrimonial Proceedings Act of 1984 meant that it was now possible to get divorced after just a year of marriage as opposed to what had previously been three years. Finally, in 1995, the need to prove fault, such as adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion, in a marriage was removed. However, couples were compelled to stay together for a year and to try to work out their differences or to negotiate their own settlements. (A Divorce History, 1996)

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As mentioned earlier, statistics may give a misleading picture and so it is not possible to look at statistics alone. Obviously, if divorce laws are relaxed, there will be an increase in the number of divorces during the period immediately following the relaxation of the law. Even though there has been a steady increase in the rate of divorce, there have also been peaks. In 1945 the reason was the end of the WWII; in the 1960’s the reason was relaxation of the laws; and again in 1984 when divorce was made even easier. However, the number of divorces does not necessarily reflect the number of marital breakdowns. Some couples, because of religious beliefs or because of financial or business arrangements, will never divorce even though their marriage has broken down. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

The removal of financial and legal barriers has made divorce even easier and cheaper. Following the Divorce Reform Act (1969), there was a dramatic increase in the number of divorces being petitioned. This increase could be a representation of people, who were unhappy with their marriage and may have wanted a divorce, but because of the laws governing divorce, were unable to. The change in the law meant that these people were now able to obtain divorce easily and because of the introduction of legal aid in 1949, would have been able to afford it even if they were on a low income. However, the divorce rate continued to rise until it reached a peak in the 1990’s when it seems to have stabilized. In 1996 there were around 350,000 marriages and around 160,000 divorces. Joan Chandler suggested, in 1993, that around 40% of all marriages would end in divorce, should trends continue. . (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

Another factor that could be a contributor in the increasing divorce rate is that of empty shell marriages. These are marriages whereby the couple involved have realised that they no longer desire to be together but still go on living together as a married couple anyway. In the past this could have been because of a number of reasons including the expense of divorce or simply because the law wouldn’t allow them to divorce. Now, however, people aren’t willing to tolerate empty shell marriages and they are more likely to end in divorce. Goode argued, in 1971, that “people took for granted that spouses who no longer loved one another and who found life together distasteful should at least stay together in public amity for the sake of their children and of their standing in community” (page 567). However, the increasing number of empty shell marriages ending in divorce does not necessarily reflect the existence of such marriages, or that the proportion within the total number of marriages, is decreasing. (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

It has also been claimed by feminists, such as Nicky Hart, that women gain less from marriage today and with 73% of divorces being petitioned by women in 1989, the evidence is clear that women aren’t happy with taking on the triple burden of roles within the family. In 1946 women filed just 37% of petitions. Traditionally, women played the role of housewife and the husband played the role of breadwinner. Nowadays, with the introduction of equal rights and equal pay, women wanted the opportunity of going out to work and sharing the burden of housework and childcare with their husband but instead they find themselves needing to work in paid employment in order to generate a decent family income. Also, they are primarily responsible for the housework and raising the children. In addition to this, they are looked upon as being beneath the male in the pecking order, as it were, of family life. This can raise conflict between the spouses and inevitably this conflict can lead to marital breakdown and divorce. . (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

Functionalists such as Talcott Parsons and Ronald Fletcher argue that the rise in marital breakdown stems mainly from increased expectations. Today, people are demanding more from marriage and are not taking their vows as seriously whereas in the past demands wouldn’t have been so high. It has been argued that this could be because we now live in a more secular society and what might have been accepted in the past is now unacceptable and the result is divorce. . (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

Michael Anderson has argued that in the past people were marrying later and life expectancy was low. Whereas now, people are getting married younger and life expectancy is high. He says that, in fact, the average length of a marriage today is as it was 30 – 40 years ago, only the high divorce rate reflects the longer potential marriage due to people living longer. . (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000.)

In conclusion, there are many factors involved in the increasing divorce rate and explanations are difficult. It seems that in the past, people may have wanted to divorce but because of expense, or legal requirements, they were unable to. Also, society today is a lot less religious than it has been in the past and so the marriage vows are not taken as seriously as they have been. It would be safe to say, however, that the comparison of divorce rates over time, or between countries, is unrealistic because of changes in the law or religious beliefs.

Bibliography

A Divorce History. January 1996. The Independent.

Donnellan, Craig. (1999). Separation and Divorce, volume 40. London: Independence.

Haralambos and Holborn. (2000). Sociology, Themes and Perspectives, 5th edn. London: Collins.

Thomas, K. (2002). Marital Breakdown and Divorce. Class Handouts. NPTC

Thomas, K. (2002). Marital Breakdown and Divorce. Class Notes. NPTC