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Topic 5 Changes in family patterns- Divorce - Coggle Diagram
Topic 5 Changes in family patterns- Divorce
Changing Patterns of divorce
Since 1960s there has been a big increase in divorce rates in the Uk. About 65% of petitions for divorce now come from women
Couples that are at a greater risk are those who marry young , have a child before they marry or if one or both partners have been married before
Changes In law
Divorce was hard to obtain in the 19th century especially for women
In 1923 the grounds of divorce was equalised for both men and women meaning divorce rates increase
In 1971 the grounds for divorce had widened to make divorce easier to obtain and this doubled divorce rates
The introduction of legal aid for divorce cases in 1949 lowered the cost of divorcing this meant rates rose rapidly
Evaluation
Although changes in the law have given more freedom for people to divorce it doesn't explain why people actually get divorced
Declining Stigma and attitudes
In the past divorce was stigmatised and was seen as a failure and some institutions such as churches refused to marry people if they had been divorced
Mitchell and Goody: This stigma has reduced rapidly since the 1960s and its now more socially acceptable to get divorced and normalised meaning rates increase
Secularisation
Refers to the decline in the influence of religion this means that the traditional opposition to divorce that churches hold carry less weight in society
Many religious institutions such as churches have soften their view on divorce perhaps to stop them loosing credibility
Rising expectation of marriage
Fletcher: There are more divorces because people expect more from the marriages and are less likely to tolerate a marriage if it doesn't meet expectations
In the past, individuals had little choice over who they married and at a time where the family was a unit of production. Marriages were often contracted due to economic reasons meaning unlikely to have high expectations of the marriage
Now their is more a view that marriage is about love and fulfilment with expectation of romance when this doesn't happen couples divorce
Women's increased financial independents
Women are no longer as financially dependent on their husbands meaning they don't have to stay in marriage they aren't satisfied with.
Women are much more likely to be in paid work rose from 53% to 72% in 2020
Equal pay and anti discrimination laws have helped narrow the pay gap and girls great success in education help them achieve the better paying jobs
Allan and Crow: Marriage is less embedded within the economic system meaning family is no longer a unit of production. Spouses are not dependent on each other
Feminist Explanation
Married women now take on the dual burden meaning they work and also complete domestic work. This has created conflict between the spouses
Although there is improvement in employment for women changes in the private family and marriage still remains patriarchal with men benefiting from wives
Hochschild: home compares unfavourably with work. At work women feel valued whereas at home men's continuing resistance to do housework is a source of frustration and makes marriage less stable
However Cooke and Gash found no evidence that working women are likely to divorce and argue its because working has now become accepted norm for married women
Modernity and individualisation
Beck and Gidden: traditional norms such as to duty to stay with 1 person loses their hold in society meaning people are free to pursue their own interests meaning relationships become more fragile and people convert to pure relationships- exists purely to satisfy each persons needs rather than anything else
When this doesn't happen people divorce as they are more interested in their pursuit of self intrest