Divorce

Code for Reasons: WTF HD BR

• Wilkinson: women's attitudes have been radically changing and this is known as a 'gender quake'. Women once prioritised marriage, children and love but now they prioritise the ability to support themselves financially, education and career
• Thornes and Collard: women expect MORE FROM MARRIAGE. They not only want a man that is economically stable but empathises with their feelings
• Functionalists: argue that people value marriage so if it dos not reach up to their level of expectation, they get a divorce
• Hart: Women have had more work opportunities i.e. The Equal Pay Act which means that they have had more chance to work. Some women also may earn more than men so this tension creates an unhappy marriage
• Divorce laws are easier: Since the Divorce Reform Act, people can file for divorce more quieckly, cheaply and easily
• Beck and Beck-Gernsheim argue that there is greater individualisation placed which means individuals have more lifestyle and living options choice
• Religious in decline- secualrisation has meant that people think it is no longer morally wrong to seek divorce

AO2: Evalutation of divorce and effects

The New Right argue that divorce has negative effects on children. This is because it can result in single-parenting. Since 90% of the time they are headed by a female, boys will be disadvanttaged the most i.e. causes them to underachieve.
They also that divorce has negative effects on the couple because for some people, divorce can be as traumatic of a experience as bereavment is

Feminists: Radical Feminists argue that divorce can be benefitical for women because it gives them more freedom. Marriages can be oppreseive and this is backed up by statistics which show that 67% of women ended a marriage compared to 33% of men.
Women can experience domestic violene i.e. 4 per 1000 men. This shows that divorce should be MADE EASIER
Marxist-feminists argue that the high divorce rates is evidence to show that society is no longer controlled by capitalist men- link class inequality to gender inequality

Postmodernists: they are in favour of divorce. They argue that families should NOT be just nuclear and if divorce suits their needs then they are in favour of it

However, Chester argues that divorce statistics are over-exaggerated and they could be misleading. This is because:

• There are only 4 out of 10 divorces compared with 6 out of 10 successful marriages. This shows that people still value marriage
• There are many re-marriages which shows that people still commit to marriage, despite thier negative experience of it
• According to The British Attitudes Survey, divorced people still see marriage as a desirable life goal and claim that having children is best done in the context of marriage

This shows that although divorce rates are increasing, people may return to marriage later on their lives and they still see it as important