Divorce

Sociological explanations for the long term decline in marriage include changing gender roles, the impact of feminism and female empowerment, economic factors such as the increasing cost of living and the individualisation associated with postmodernism.

• People are more likely to cohabit (although in most cases this is a step before marriage)
• People are marrying later
• The number of remarriages has increased.
• Couples are less likely to marry in church
• There is a greater diversity of marriages (greater ethnic diversity and civil partnerships)
• There has been a very recent increase in the marriage rate.

Evaluation Point – Even though it’s declining, marriage is still an important institution because….

• Most households are still headed by a married couple
• Couples may cohabit, but this is normally before getting married – they just get married later
• Most people still think marriage is the ideal type of relationship
• The fact that remarriages have increased show that people still value the institution of marriage.

1. Economic Factors – The increasing cost of living and the increasing cost of weddings.

Increasing property prices in recent years may be one of the factors why couples choose to get married later in life. The average deposit on a first time home is now over £30 000, with the average cost of a wedding being around £18 000. So for most couples it is literally a choice between getting married in their 20s and then renting/ living with parents, or buying a house first and then getting married in their 30s. The second option is obviously the more financially rational.

2. Changing gender roles

Liberal Feminists point to changing gender roles as one of the main…