Divorce
Sociology: AQA A Level, topic 4.2.2
Reasons for the Increase in Divorce: Availability
The rise in the divorce rate can be explained by the increase in availability and acceptability.
Divorce rates
- The number of marriages ending in divorce is about five times higher than it was fifty years ago, with around half of new marriages today ending in divorce.
- The UK has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.
Equality
- Changes in the law over the last one-hundred years or so have made divorce easier and cheaper.
- Men and women now have equal rights in divorce, for example, women can now initiate divorce.
Cost
- Since the introduction of legal aid, divorce has become much cheaper, making it available to people who previously were unable to afford it.
Legal changes
- In 1969 divorce law was changed so that it was no longer necessary to prove that a partner was guilty of a matrimonial offence and now a divorce can be granted because the marriage has broken down beyond repair (known as ‘irretrievable differences’).
Reasons for the Increase in Divorce: Acceptability
The rise in the divorce rate can be explained by the increase in availability and acceptability.
Equality
- Due to growing equality between men and women, women are now less willing to accept the traditional patriarchal nature of marriage, such as domestic labour and segregated roles.
- More women are now in paid employment, so they are less financially dependent on their husbands.
Contraception
- The wider availability of safe and effective contraception means that it’s now safer to have sex with more than one person during marriage, this weakens traditional constraints on fidelity to a marriage partner, potentially exposing relationships to greater instability.
Religion
- The decline in influence of religion (secularisation) means that marriage has lost its religious significance as a sacred and spiritual union so it is more easily abandoned if it fails.
Postmodernists
- Postmodernists see the increase in divorce as linked to growing individualisation (self-interest) and uncertainty of late modern and postmodern societies.
- Lives are also subject to greater choice, negotiation and decision-making, such as over household duties and finances, so they are more likely to be governed by self-interest rather than traditional controls of morality, social expectations and norms.
Postmodernists cont.
- Giddens (a postmodernist) argues that personal fulfilment in relationships has grown in significance, so intimate relationships are no longer based on ideas of permanence; this means that people are less likely to stay with partners they see as unsatisfactory.
Reasons for the Increase in Divorce: Acceptability 2
The rise in the divorce rate can be explained by the increase in availability and acceptability.
Stigma
- There is less social stigma attached to divorce than there once was, and divorce is now no longer regarded as scandalous.
- Ditto, lone parenthood, cohabitation and stepfamilies are now widely accepted.
Life expectancy
- The rise in the levels of life expectancy means that marriages now have more time to break down before a partner dies.
Functionalists
- Functionalists (e.g. Parsons and Fletcher) argue that the divorce rate had risen because couples (and in particular, women) now demand more love, companionship, understanding, compatibility and fulfilment in their relationships and if these aren’t present they are more likely to separate.
Functionalists cont.
- The family itself has lost its function, argue functionalists as many of the functions have been transferred to other social institutions, such as the NHS and the welfare state, resulting in marriage becoming less of a practical necessity.
Test yourself on Divorce
Which of the following countries has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe?
In which year was divorce law changed so that it was no longer necessary to prove that a partner was guilty of a matrimonial offence?
The number of marriages ending in divorce is how much higher than it was fifty years ago?
How do functionalists explain the rise in divorce rates in recent years?