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A comparison of marriage across cultures
Effect and causes of divorce
Cultural level of marriage
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The institution of marriage is less and less considered in many countries around the world. There was a significant decline in the number of marriages during the last decades. The British society is one of the most affected by this phenomenon with a decrease almost 50% faster than in other societies. There are several reasons that led us to this situation such as the cost of weddings, the rise of cohabitation and the evolution of our culture. Nations are aware of this issue. However, their role is controversial. This essay discusses the factors of this decline as well as the actions which might be taken.
The number of marriages decreased considerably recently. According to the Office for National Statistics in the UK (2009, pp.19), the number decreased of approximately 25 percent between 1991 and 2007 to reach the lowest rate since the 19th century. This drop in the number of marriages can not only be noticed in the UK. It also occurs in other countries such as France and Canada. For instance, the French wedding rate fell down of slightly more than 10% during the six years following the millennium (www.insee.fr). The same diminution was examined in Canada between 2000 and 2004.
The falling number of marriage isn’t the only fact to be concerned with. In 2006, the mean age of British newlyweds reached 27.2 years for women and 31.3 for men compared to 29.7 and 29.3 respectively a decade earlier. Despite the drop in the overall number of marriage during this period, various trends appear depending on the age group, less single men aged between 20 and 29 got married while more of them aged between 35 and 44 did so. There were also discrepancies in the data for women. The amount of weddings grew for women aged between 30 and 44 w...
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...vileges would undoubtedly change people’s opinion. On the other hand, single individuals, who don’t face this dilemma of getting married, would be disadvantaged by this change. The marriage shouldn’t become mandatory. Any changes should be persuasive for unmarried couples and insignificant for single individuals.
In conclusion, there was a steady international decrease in the number of marriages during the last decades. The United Kingdom is top of the pile in terms of fastest dropping number of marriages. Other developed countries such as France and Canada aren’t far behind. In my opinion, the government and religions are distinct institution which shouldn’t have any strong link. However, the situation becoming more and more alarming, an intervention of the government would be a necessary evil. Has the government decided to take any actions, these have to be fair.
...s. While this will not please all, I believe it would please majority and that would result in a more peaceful and harmonious structure to unions of marriage.
finally the opportune moment for individuals to build a stable family that previous decades of depression, war, and domestic conflicts had restricted. We see that this decade began with a considerable drop in divorce rates and rise in marriage rates, which is often assumed as the result of changed attitudes and values. However, this situation cannot be only just attributed to women’s
Is marriage really important? There is a lot of controversy over marriage and whether it is eminent. Some people believe it is and some people believe it is not. These opposing opinions cause this controversy. “On Not Saying ‘I do’” by Dorian Solot explains that marriage is not needed to sustain a relationship or a necessity to keep it healthy and happy. Solot believes that when a couple gets married things change. In “For Better, For Worse”, Stephanie Coontz expresses that marriage is not what is traditional in society because it has changed and is no longer considered as a dictator for people’s lives. The differences between these two essays are the author’s writing style and ideas.
Stephanie Coontz, author of The Evolution of Matrimony: The Changing Social Context of Marriage, writes that there has been more changes in marriage in the past 30 years then there was in the 3,000 years earlier. With these changes there are no religious or cultural exclusions. Coontz claims, “Right here is America’s Bible belt exist some of the highest rates of divorce and unwed motherhood in the country, and born again Christians d...
In fact, the number of divorces in Canada for every 100,000 people has decreased from a high of 362.3 in 1987 to 220.7 in 2005 (Wyman 1). Yet when we exclude the large and sudden jump of the Page 2 divorce rate in the 1980’s, we can see the overall national divorce rate is still gradually increasing from those of an earlier time period, which is to be expected due to the continued changes in societal norms.... ... middle of paper ... ... A senseless census reform."
Marriage is the legal or formally recognized union of a man and a woman, or two people or the same sex as partners in a relationship. Marriage rates in the United States have changed drastically since the last 90’s and early 2000 years (Cherlin 2004). Marital decline perspective and marital resilience perspective are the two primary perspectives and which we believe are the results from the decline. The marital decline perspective is the view that the American culture has become increasingly individualistic and preoccupied with personal happiness (Amato, 2004). The change in attitudes has changed the meaning of marriage as a whole, from a formal institution
Cohabitation, over the last two decades has gone from being a relatively uncommon social phenomenon to a commonplace one and has achieved this prominence quite quickly. A few sets of numbers convey both the change and its rapidity. The percentage of marriages preceded by cohabitation rose from about 10% for those marrying between 1965 and 1974 to over 50% for those marrying between 1990 and 1994 (Bumpass and Lu 1999, Bumpass & Sweet 1989); the percentage is even higher for remarriages. Secondly, the percentage of women in their late 30s who report having cohabited at least once rose from 30% in 1987 to 48% in 1995. Given a mere eight year tome window, this is a striking increase. Finally, the proportion of all first unions (including both marriages and cohabitation) that begin as cohabitations rose from 46% for unions formed between 1980 and 1984 to almost 60% for those formed between 1990 and 1994 (Bumpass and Lu 1999).
The culture that exists in America is one that is constantly changing to suit the times and the many different types of people that reside in the country. One aspect of American culture that has changed profoundly is the institution of marriage. Marriage began as the undisputed lifestyle for couples willing to make the ultimate commitment to one another. However in less than a century, pointless and destructive alternatives such as premarital cohabitation, have developed to replace marriage.
It appears that as time goes by, people view marriage more romantically, and less economically. Samuell Sewell viewed marriage as a way to advance monetarily. In his diary he writes, "I said 'twould cost L100. per annum: she said twould cost but L40"(63). This is just one example of him carefully calculating the costs of marriage.
In the United States marriage rates are dipping too new lows. The growing trend of declining marriage rates is understood with an economical approach when analyzing marriage markets. For instance, the demand and supply of husbands can be used to better explain activity in marriage markets. In this paper the demand of husbands is equated to women’s preferences, which are internal and external factors that drive women too marriage. The supply of husbands or male’s preferences, are characteristics men choose to bring to a marriage. When using an economical approach there is overwhelming evidence that the decline in marriage rates is due to a decline in women’s preferences, simply put the demand for husbands. Low demand for husbands can be attributed to; an increase in the labor supply for women, the economic risks associated with being a housewife, and the waning social stigma attached to unmarried women.
It is not a new thought that today’s young Americans are facing issues, problems and difficult decisions that past generations never had to question. In a world of technology, media, and a rough economy, many young adults in America are influenced by a tidal wave of opinions and life choices without much relevant advice from older generations. The Generation Y, or Millennial, group are coming of age in a confusing and mixed-message society. One of these messages that bombard young Americans is the choice of premarital cohabitation. Premarital cohabitation, or living together without being married (Jose, O’Leary & Moyer, 2010), has increased significantly in the past couple of decades and is now a “natural” life choice before taking the plunge into marriage. Kennedy and Bumpass (2008) state that, “The increase in cohabitation is well documented,such that nearly two thirds of newlyweds have cohabited prior to their first marriage”(as cited in Harvey, 2011, p. 10), this is a striking contrast compared with statistics of our grandparents, or even parents, generations. It is such an increasing social behavior that people in society consider cohabitation “necessary” before entering into marriage. Even more, young Americans who choose not to cohabitate, for many different reasons, are looked upon as being “old-fashioned”, “naive”, or “unintelligent”. This pressure for young people to cohabitate before marriage is a serious “modern-day” challenge; especially when given research that states, “... most empirical studies find that couples who cohabited prior to marriage experience significantly higher odds of marital dissolution than their counterparts who did not cohabit before marriage”, stated by Jose (2010) and colleagues (as c...
Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur.Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce.In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same. Most marriages are ending within seven years ofthemarriage for multiple different reasons. Sociologists haveestablisheddivorce as a social problem from the rise in divorcerates due to the early year of marriages (2006).
The debate on whether to get married or stay single has been raging for a long while, with both sides of the coin having their own pros and cons regarding the matter. Many proponents of either marriage or single life have strong individual convictions, and it is difficult to reach a definitive objective conclusion. Is the married individual happier than his/her single counterpart, or is getting married just a comfort seeking ritual that people believe they have to fulfill at some point in their lives? It is necessary to dissect this issue in the light of four factors: health and other medical factors, the economic and finance front, mental and emotional wellbeing and lastly, the social factor.
is the most usual in which a man and a woman unite themselves in the
Marriage is important to a majority of people for it is their declaration of their love for that one person they choose to spend the rest of their lives with. For many it is a family tradition to be married in church, with family and friends and of course the bride in white being given away by her father or close male relative and a full wedding court but without that kind of ceremony the couple is not considered married. Just like being married by the courts some do not consider that marriage, but some do it anyway, due to it being cheaper than a wedding and to avoid all the hassles of planning one. But it seems to be on its way out, seeing that more and more of today’s, generation are choosing to stay single longer or not getting married at all. Even though a