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Explain how come divorce rates have risen in the last 5 decades
The quantity of divorces has increased a lot before 50 years. In the 1960s there were approximately 30, 000 divorces each year, whereas in the early 2000s there were around 120, 500. The divorce rate ensures that, according to Chandler (2006) on average, forty percent of all marriages will end in a divorce.
One of the reasons pertaining to the increase inside the divorce price is changes in the law. Over the past 50 years there have been three main changes in the regulation that have made divorce much easier and therefore more common: equalising the reasons for divorce between the genders, widening the grounds for divorce and producing divorce less costly. The grounds for divorce were equalised in 1923 and this change caused a rise inside the number of divorce petitions via women. In 1971, the Divorce Law Reform Act of 1969 widened the grounds for divorce to ‘irretrievable breakdown’ ” this means that couples simply had to provide evidence that the marriage was unsalvageable in order to get a divorce. Not any other conditions needed to be fulfilled, so this resulted in a large increase in the divorce rate. Divorce was made cheaper in 49 when legal aid was introduced, thus making divorce more obtainable for functioning class lovers and once again contributing to within the number of divorces.
Mitchell and Goody (1997) believe one of the most important reasons for the rise in the divorce rate is a declining stigma attached to divorce and the changing attitudes to it. In the past there was a lot of judgment attached to divorce, for example , a large number of churches could refuse to accomplish marriage ceremonies concerning divorcees. Nevertheless , more and more people will be regarding divorce as socially acceptable. Because of this more couples are considering that as a viable option as they are less keen to be humiliated about it, causing there as a higher divorce rate.
Another reason to get the rising number of cases of divorce in the last 5 decades is secularisation. As religious influence in society declines, people are more unlikely to be motivated by spiritual teachings when coming up with decisions about divorce. Although a lot of religions are opposed to divorce, some church buildings are making all their views on divorce and divorcees less tough, possibly since they are losing a lot of people.
Rising anticipations of matrimony is another reason behind the increase in the number of cases of divorce in the last 50 years. Many functionalists, for example Fletcher (1966), argue that higher objectives of marriage make lovers less ready to endure an unsatisfied marriage. In the past, people don’t have a whole lot of choice in who that they married because it was mainly linked with economical reasons. This meant that their very own expectations were lower, rendering it less likely so they can become miserable. On the other hand, for most people nowadays, relationship should be based upon love, of course, if there is no much longer any appreciate then there is not any reason to be married. Therefore many lovers get divorced, adding to the divorce level. Although they carry out accept that divorce is becoming increasingly popular, functionalists indicate that folks are continuous to get married and many persons get remarried, meaning that most of the people have not declined divorce totally. However , feminists argue that the primary cause of divorce is the patriarchal nature of marriage and oppression of ladies within the family members, stating that functionalists tend not to explain why it is mostly women who request for divorce.
One last reason for the rise in the number of divorces in past times 50 years is changes in the situation of women, seeing that women may request a divorce than men. Nowadays, females are much more likely to be in paid work, 47% of women were working in 1959 compared to 70 percent in 2006. This means that it is less likely for the woman to get dependent on a husband and more likely that she would manage to afford the divorce. However , feminists argue that, seeing that women have become wage earners as well as homemakers, this has produced more issue within marital life and is the real reason for the increase inside the divorce level. The pay gap among men and women provides decreased massively due to equivalent pay and anti-discrimination laws and regulations have also meant that women are much less dependent on males. Girls will be achieving even more in education than young boys today, which means that they are able to achieve higher-paid jobs, so they can afford to obtain divorced in the event they choose to. Also, wellbeing benefits mean that women could get divorced whether or not they are influenced by their partner during relationship. Allan and Crow believe “marriage is much less embedded in within the economical system” right now, since you will discover fewer relatives firms. This means that couples are do not rely upon each other monetarily and so are in a position to get divorced.
The rise in the range of divorces over the last 50 years means different things to be able to sociologists. For instance, the New Proper see a substantial divorce rate as undesirable because it undermines the elemental family and leaves boys without an adult male role style. In contrast, feminists see a high divorce charge as desirable because it indicates that women are escaping the oppression from the nuclear relatives. Postmodernists view a high divorce rate as a cause of higher family selection, while functionalists argue that a high divorce level is the consequence of people’s substantial expectations of marriage. Finally, interactionists need to find out what divorce way to individuals, one example is Morgan says that we should not generalise regarding the meaning of divorce since it is different for everyone.
To conclude, the main causes of the rise in the number of divorces in the last 50 years are modifications in our law, decreasing attitudes and changing thinking, secularisation, increasing expectations of marriage and changes in the location of women.
