MARRIAGE

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  • MARRIAGE
    • Trends
      • Changing Social Attitudes -
        • now less socially desirable than in the past
        • cohabiting outside marriage is socially acceptable - changes in law means more protection
        • much more acceptance of social relationships before marriage
        • much more acceptance of having children before marriage
      • Secularisation
        • declining in influence of religion weakens marriage as a social institution - no religious pressure
        • increase in media and celebrity culture
      • Higher Expectations of Marriage
        • willing to wait to find the right person
      • Emancipation of Women
        • people, especially women can now choose how to spend their lives
        • less social stigma attached to being single
        • women now have more educational and career opportunities than ever before (feminism)
        • genderquake
        • Changing roles of men and women - women dont have to be married anymore
      • Cost
        • cant afford to marry - prefer to cohabit - money towards a house?
    • STATISTICS
      • marriage generally declining -2011-2012 increase of 5.3% in England and Wales
      • second marriages are increasing (re-marriages for both partners) 1971-2011 increase of 24%
      • people are getting marraied later in life. Mean age for marriage increased by almost 8 years for men and women since 1972
        • mean age for marriage is 36.5 years for men and 34 years for women
      • more people are choosing to have civil ceremonies rather than religios ceremonies
        • 70% of marriages that took place in 2012 were civil ceremonies, compared to 66% in 2002 (4% increase)
    • Research
      • Wilkinson (1994)
        • Genderquake - male and female rules have changed dramtically in such a short period of time
      • Campbell (1994)
        • suggests that marriage benefits men more than it does women
      • Morgan (2000)
        • argues that marriage involves unique attachments, obligations that regulate peoples behaviour.
          • e.g. she claims men are more likely to be employed than unmarried/cohabiting and earn more because they work harder than any other group

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