Families and Households: Example Essay - Marriage and Cohabitation

Examine some of the reasons for the changing patterns of marriage and cohabitation. 

According to the Office of National Statistics and the British Attitudes Survey, there has been a long term decline in marriage but very recently a small increase in the marriage rate has been seen. People are more likely to cohabit (although for some this is just a step prior to marriage) and those who do chose to get married are more likely to do so later in their lives. Although the general trend of marriage is decreasing, remarriages are on the rise and recent years have seen a greater diversity of marriages (e.g. greater ethnic diversity and civil partnerships).

Cohabitation involves an unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together. Between 1996 and 2006, the number of cohabiting couples in the UK increased by over 60% making it the fastest growing family type in the UK. This figure (in England and Wales) is projected to almost double by 2031 to 3.8 million (over I in every 4 couples). The declining stigma surrounding cohabitation can be linked to secularisation as pre-marital sex becomes more widely accepted, and marriage is no longer a sacred vow between two partners. (This could also be a result of postmodern society as pure relationships are more likely to result in serial monogamy in today’s society). Marriage rates may be also be declining as people don’t see married life being any different to cohabitation. 60% of people born in the 1980’s feel like co-habitation is just as good as married life, but this has changed from the previous generation whom only 30% agreed with the statement. However these changes may not be changes in their own right, purely the results of other changes we have seen over recent years. The openness and diversity of postmodern society encourages people to accept things like cohabitation and the reason for declining marriage rates may be a consequence of economic factors.

Increasing property prices in recent years may be one of the factor as to 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 over half that price (£18,000). So for most couples it is literally a choice between getting married in their 20’s and then renting or perhaps living with parents, or buying a house first then getting married in their 30’s. The second option is obviously the more financially rational. You can evidently see that money is a considerable factor when choosing to get married as 83% of men aged 30-50 who are also in the top 10% of earners are married today compared to only 50% of men of a similar age category who are also in the bottom 25 percentile of earners having tied the knot. This albeit a very logical explanation, only explains why people are choosing to get married later in life and does not account for those who chose o cohabit…