Examine the reasons for changes in the patterns of marriage, co-habitation and divorce rate in the last 30 years.

Despite the fact, Cohabitation before marriage has now become the norm. For 1st marriages in the 1950s the figure was less than 2% by 1996 it was 77%. The proportion of cohabiting more than trebled from 9% to over 27%. Cohabiting couples tend to be young. Attitudes towards sexual relationships and living arrangements outside marriage have changed. Cohabitation is no longer described with negative phrases such as “living over the brush” or seen as “living in sin” by social groups due to secularisation that is declining influence of religion in people lives and it is more acceptable since the 1990s. Likewise, the church takes less rigid views of divorce and it allows couples to re-marry in the church who had previously divorced. Cohabitation is on increase due to various reasons; some may describe it as it is part of the process of getting married and seen as it is a prelude to marriage. It has been seen as a trail marriage. It provides an opportunity to test the relationships before making it legal binding. However, for some Cohabitation is an alternative to marriage and Cohabitation is absence of legal ties therefore it gives more freedom to end relationship. Parental control over children has decreased over the past 30 years. The expansion of higher education means that increasing number of young people are leaving home at an earlier age for reasons other than marriage. There were 173, 000 female undergraduates in the UK in 1971 compared with 602,000 in 2001. As a result, many young people have more freedom from parental authority at an earlier age and they are able to live in their own housing. This makes it easier for couples to cohabit.

In UK, there has been a dramatic rise in divorce during the 20th century. Sociologists Robert Chester (1984) believes that the increase in divorce rates probably reflects an increase in martial breakdown. As the divorce rate increased, there may have been decrease in separations and empty shell marriages. In 1971, only 94 separations orders were granted compared to over 74,000 divorces. The rise in divorce means that the view of marriage as a ‘union for life’ has less power. This may lead many people to see cohabitation, without its binding legal ties, as an attractive alternative to marriage. Some people actually give ‘fear of divorce’ as a reason for cohabiting. One of the reasons for an increase in rate of divorce, the Divorce Reform Act 1969 was introduced. Before this Act a matrimonial offence had to be proven but the Act 1969 introduced the idea of “no fault divorce” which means that neither party had to be blamed for the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship. Changes in law have made divorce a lot easier. The grounds for divorce have been widened, the procedure has been simplified and the expense reduced. It is now within everyone’s reach. Women are likely to support themselves after divorce. The changing in role and attitudes causing less stigma which has made divorce more socially acceptable. People who previously separated or endured empty shell marriages are probably more likely to choose divorce. 40% of marriages are likely to end up in divorce or separation. In the 1980s, recession in industry has resulted in increases in divorce rate and lone parents where more women choose to parent alone. A number of sociologists such as New Right Murray(1990’s) and Marsland (1990’s)argues that family ties and responsibilities have been weakened by welfare state as it has become too generous to the point that a significant but grown minority of families depend upon it for their entire household income. Teenage mum’s for example. They conclude that the welfare state has in fact encouraged martial breakdown, lone parenthood and teenage pregnancy. Paradoxically, when the welfare state was created its main aim was to support families, not encourage their breakdown.

In conclusion, there are many factors which contribute to changes in patterns of marriage, cohabitation and divorce such as economic, religious, social attitudes and legal changes. The various explanations are interrelated for example, as the social attitudes changed so did the laws about divorce which led to an increase in separation rates and lone parent families and decline in marriages.