What do these people have in common?

L/O: To investigate the patterns of marriage in the UK and why

they have changed.

Marriage refers to the legal contract between individuals that creates kinship.

Task: Using your knowledge of what Sociology is, write down three sociological questions relating to marriage.

How do you feel about marriage?

• Is it something you would like to do?• What are your predictions about

marriage trends? Justify your thinking.

1971 – 459,000 marriages

1991 – 350,000 marriages

During the period of 1971 to 1991 divorce rates more than doubled.

Marriage

Remarriages However there are more re-marriages.

In 2005 40% of all marriages were re-marriages. Leads to serial monogamy

Marriage Divorce Remarriage

Marriage• Changes in the patterns of marriage:

– Fewer people are marrying: marriage rates are at their lowest since the 1920s. In 2005, there were 170,800 first marriages-less than half the number for 1970.

– There are more re-marriages. In 2005 4 out of every 10 marriages were re-marriages. For many people this has lead to serial monogamy: a pattern of marriage-divorce-re marriage.

– People are marrying later. 2005 reached 32 for men and 30 for women.

– Couples are less likely to marry in church.

Reason for young people postponing marriage

• Spending longer in full time education.

• Establishing a career before marriage.

• Cohabiting before marriage.

Age of Marriage In 1971 the average age of 1st marriages was 25 for men and 23 for women

By 2005 it was 32 for men and 29 for women – Discuss possible reasons.

Cohabitation has accounted for much of this increase. Many couples now see co habitation as a prelude to marriage.

Civil partnership

Civil partnerships

The civil partnership act came into effect in the UK in December 2005. The act grants same sex couples identical rights and responsibilities as opposite sex married couples

Same sex marriage

Came into force on 13 March 2014, and the first same-sex marriages took place on 29 March 2014

A modern take on marriage

http://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/videos/matrimony

If 40% of us will get divorced why bother getting married?

• Place these reasons for marriage in a hierarchy of importance to you.

• Are any of these wrong reasons for marriage?

What are the threats to marriage?

Marriage

The threats to marriage can fall into two categories. These are:

• Threats which result from alternatives to marriage.

• Threats which result from the breakdown of marriages.

Think!Can you think of any examples which would

fit into either of these two categories?

MarriageThreats resulting from alternatives to

marriage.• Marriage Rates – People are delaying

marriage therefore at present there is a decline.

• Bernades (1997)- Points out that most people get married at

some point in their life.

Marriage

Threats resulting from alternatives to marriage.• Cohabitation – This is on the increase. By 2002

over a quarter of non-married people in Britain were cohabiting.

• Burgoyne and Clark (1984) - A significant proportion of their sample said

cohabitation is a good idea. Although it is not an permanent alterative to marriage.

Marriage

Threats resulting from alternatives to marriage.

• Single-Person Households – Many people now live on their own, this may be because they are divorced or separated or it may just be a deliberate choice of life.

• Single person households are becoming more common in Britain.

Marriage

Threats resulting from the breakdown of marriages.

There are three main categories which threats from the breakdown of marriage can fall into.

These are:• Divorce – The legal termination of a marriage• Separation – The physical separation between

two spouses• Empty-Shell Marriages – The spouses remain

living together although their marriage exists in name only.

Patterns of MarriageSue Sharpe studied working class girls in London schools in the 1970’s. their main concerns were listed in priority order

•Love

•Marriage

•Husbands

•Children

•Jobs

•careers

In 1990 she went back…….

Now she found that the girls priorities had changed to

•Job

•Career

•Being able to support themselves

The trends indicating both a move away from marriage and the entry into later marriage Have uncovered social changes that prior to even 1950 would have been considered unusual (even unacceptable).

Singlehood

Some people never marry, either by choice or through failing to find a suitable partner. Singlehood previous was a status that always regarded with some degree of negativity and suspicion (particularly for women).

CREATIVE SINGLEHOOD

(1946-1950) Only 7% of all women in UK remained unmarried

(1961-1965) Had risen to 28%

Stephanie Coontz"Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage,"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwtb7jz8G4k