Another reason for this increase in divorce rate may because of the change in social values. Throughout the 20th century divorce became more and more socially acceptable. Couple were less likely to stay together to avoid the stigma and the shame formerly associated with divorced. The rising rate of divorce has led to the ‘normalisation’ of divorce, making it more acceptable as a means of a failed marriage. The view of marriage as a ‘union for life’ has now less power than it did 30 years ago.
The change of ‘economic position of women’ has also contributed to the rise in divorce rates. Over the past 30 years, married women’s chances of economic independence have improved significantly. This is due to more women entering the labour market so being able to live more independently; and improved welfare benefits for women with dependant children.
This rise in divorce rates has also contributed to the change in co-habitation. Couples in which one or both partners are divorced are the most likely to cohabit. For example, if there divorce has not gone through, cohabitation is an option if they want to live with someone else. For pre-martially cohabiting after divorce, the figure has rise from 20% in 1967 to 84% in 1996. Cohabitation before marriage has now increasingly been considered a norm of today’s society. Many people now see it as part of the process for getting married, as a prelude to marriage not an alternative to marriage. Other people see cohabitation as a trial marriage because it provides an opportunity to test the relationship before making it legally binding. Some people even see cohabitation as an alternative to marriage because of the absence of legal ties giving them more freedom to end the relationship if need be.
The change in attitudes over the past 30 years has also led to the increase in cohabitation. Attitudes towards sexual relationships and living arrangements outside marriage mean cohabitation is no longer seen as ‘living in sin’. This is also due to the downfall in religion meaning that cohabitation is seen more now as a positive alternative rather than the negative appearance it use to have. Evidence for this can be seen in the British Household Panel survey. Asked whether they thought living together outside marriage was always wrong, a third aged over 60 and over said it was wrong compared with less than a tenth of those under 30. This increase in positive attitudes towards cohabitation may be due to reliable contraception that was made readily available to unmarried women with the passing of the NHS in 1969. This effective contraception makes it possible for couples to cohabit without the fear of pregnancy.
Apart from a few variations, the numbers of marriages per year in the UK increased steadily from 1938 until the early 1970’s when a significant decline began to occur from 480,000 marriages in 1972 to 306,000 in 2000. However a large amount of these are re-marriages, which have steadily increased as the divorce rate has also increased. The average age of marriage has also increased over the past 30 years. In 1971, the average age for first marriages was 24 for men and 22 for women. By 2000, it was30 for men and 28 for women. Cohabitation partly accounts for this as many couples choice to cohabit together prelude to marriage.
The rise of single hood is an obvious reason to the decline in marriages. Growing numbers of people are living alone. Particularly for women professional occupations have become increasingly more important to some women than to settle down and have a family. In the past, being single was seen as a negative status. They were seen to have ‘failed’ to find a marriage partner. Today these views are changing. The term creative singlehood is sometimes used to describe a positive view of singlehood whereby people choose to remain single as a lifestyle option. Women striving for careers and leaving marriage till later in life or not at all is an example of this.
In conclusion I have examined many different reasons for why there is an increase in divorce and cohabitation and a decline in marriage. They all intertwine within each other for example, the increase of divorce rates and co-habitation has resulted in the two-parent nuclear family (headed by a married couple), to steadily decrease as a proportion of all families. The changes in attitudes in today’s society have changed the appearance of divorce and cohabitation that what use to be unacceptable into a ‘norm’ of today’s lifestyle. Marriage also seems to be far less important to many people than it was 30 years ago.
