One reason for changes in the divorce rate is the change in how divorce is perceived by society. For example, 50 years ago divorce was considered to be shameful and dishonourable. However, since then it’s no longer considered such a disgrace. The reason for the shift in social norms and values, particularly since the 1950’s is that it’s not as uncommon, due to new laws being introduced and changes being made to existing ones. The major change has been the introduction of the divorce reform act.
Examine the reasons for changes in the divorce rate in the UK since 1969 There is plenty of reasons in which divorces rates have changed since 1969, such as legal changes, the position of women and roles changing in the household. Comparing the past and present to understand why changes have taken place would be necessary. Traditionally the 'nuclear' family, a man, a woman and two children, was the most historically popular. However today divorce is very highly acceptable for half of the couples who get married. Children are now living with one parents (a lone parent family), with another family member or are being adopted.
a) Outline and Explain reasons for the growth in singlehood in the contemporary UK. [15] Singlehood in the UK has grown over the years, for example, women born between 1946 and 1950, only 7% remained unmarried, however women born between 1961 and 1965, 28% of women remained unmarried, with a similar trend for men. The growth for singlehood could be for a number of different reasons. People are now taking advantage of the new divorce law, and the changing views on singlehood. People are also expecting more from marriage, and women especially are choosing to live alone due to feminist views.
Divorce is very common in our current society. All across the world people are accepting divorce in society and it continues to play a role in our society. Starting in the 1960s divorce started to become a more prevalent problem in the United States. The number of divorces per 1000 people, also known as the divorce rate, doubled from a rate of 2.6 to 5.4 between the 1950s and 1980s (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2007). In 1990, when the divorce rate was 4.7, there were 1,182,000 divorces in the United States (Births, Deaths, Marriages, & Divorces, 2006).
Research shows that 28% of homes are single person households. This is due to the divorce rates increasing to a rate where it is now the norm, whereas in the past, society would look down on an individual who even considered divorce (social stigma). Research shows that now 40% of marriages have ended in
A major change that has occurred in the Western family is an increased incidence in divorce. Whereas in the past, divorce was a relatively rare occurrence, in recent times it has become quite commonplace. This change is borne out clearly in census figures. For example thirty years ago in Australia, only one marriage in ten ended in divorce; nowadays the figure is more than one in three (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996: p.45). A consequence of this change has been a substantial increase in the number of single parent families and the attendant problems that this brings (Kilmartin, 1997).
On the one hand, it can be said that legal changes are the main reason for the increase in divorce over the last forty years due to acts brought into force, such as the Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1984. This act allowed couples to divorce at least one year after marriage, instead of three years, which is what the law enforced before. This meant that people were divorcing sooner and therefore less issues within marriages were being resolved and more marriages were being ended. This is because before, when people had to wait three years before they could divorce, they would often work on the issues in those years, and sometimes move past them and fix the marriage, whereas after the act came into force they could possibly divorce as soon as an issue arose rather than having to deal with it. This is highlighted by the numbers of divorces over the past forty years – in 1974, ten years before the Matrimonial Proceedings Act, there were 113,500 divorces in England and Wales.
Over the last 15 years the our nations prison population has more than doubled. Many things contribute to this rapid increase of convicted felons. This leads to many different thing our country must deal with. Overcrowded prisons, more money to pay by tax payers, criminals with no skills to help them in the real world of life, are just a couple issues that must be dealt with. All of these things affect everyone in our nation.
When choosing from the topic examples provided, the topic that most interests me is Family structure. This topic interests me because in today’s society the image of a traditional family has decreased its values over a period of decades. When researching this topic I found that there are many factors involved that contribute to this change, one of the most predominate factors is the sudden rise in the divorces rate in America. The traditional family was for decades a mother, father and children. However, the past several years has led to many more or blended families than any other time in history.
The post industrial revolution has contributed to economic change which is associated with changes found in demographics, work and education. These, in turn, link to changes in families (Starbuck, 2010). Following World War II, childbearing rates increased dramatically. As a result of the baby boom, this partially increased divorce rates and crime as the majority of teenagers and young adults were most likely to get divorced and involve themselves in delinquent acts. Both skills and industrial habits, such as punctuality and discipline were stressed as being important in order to prepare the young to live in a democratic, industrializing nation (Starbuck, 2010).