...Divorce: Why have divorce rates increased since the 1950s? A divorce is the ending of a legal marriage, cancelling the marriage contract between the partners and the state. In the UK, a divorce requires the approval of the legal system, although this is fairly easy to come by. A typical divorce has to consider support payments for the partners and any children, child custody, the distribution of property and the division of debt. Fifty years ago there were few divorces. Nowadays, two in five marriages end in divorce. This is because divorce is cheaper and easier, and the equality between the sexes has been narrowed. In the 1950s, divorce used to be difficult to obtain and very few divorces took place. People were looked down on if they were divorced and it was impossible for them to remarry in church. Nowadays, divorce is accepted as a normal part of life, and no one is looked down on for being divorced. The number of divorces granted in the UK in 1961 was 27,000. This doubled to 56,000 by 1969, and doubled again to 125,000 divorces by 1972. The number in 2002 was 160,000. Between 1990 and 2003, The United Kingdom had the highest divorce rate at 6.68 annual per 1,000 people. However, the rate of divorce in the United Kingdom has been dropping in recent years, to 135,000 in 2008. The most important reason for increase in the amount of divorce is the removal of legal and financial barriers to divorce. In 1969 a new law was passed, the Divorce Reform Act, which made divorce cheaper...
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...Examine the reasons for the divorce rate in Britain today. Divorce is the legal separation of married couples. A divorce rate is the number of divorces occurring among the population of a given area during a given year. Since the 1960s there has been a great increase in the number of divorces in the United Kingdom. In Britain today, the numbers have fallen somewhat, but still stood at around 157,000 in 2001. This rate shows that about 40% of marriages will end in divorce. Some couples are more likely to divorce than others – couples such as those who marry young, those who have a child or cohabit before marriage and those where one or both partners have been married before. Functionalists are interested in divorce because they argue that a high divorce rate does not necessarily prove that marriage as a social institution is under threat. One reason for the changing rates in divorce is due to changes in the law. In previous centuries divorce was very hard to obtain, especially for women. Gradually changes in the law have made it easier for divorce to be achieved. Law changes such as equalising rights for men and women in the area of divorce, widening the grounds for divorce and making divorce cheaper are all factors which are changing the rates of divorce. Although divorce legally ends a marriage, couples find other solutions to solve the problem of an unhappy marriage; one partner leaving the other although they remain legally married (desertion); legal separation of the financial...
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...the main cause of the increase in divorce. Divorce is on a rapid rise, Item B provides statistical evidence to prove this claim for an increase in this legal separation, by stating that "there are now 50 times more divorces each year than there were in 1921” this shows that divorce is increasing. They are many other factors which have led to this dramatic increase, one of them being the changes in the law. The first law passed which allowed a divorce was in 1857; here “divorce was only obtained by a special and costly Act of Parliament” as mentioned in Item B. Men were required to prove their wives of adultery and women were to prove their husbands of both adultery matrimonial offences. This made gaining a divorce difficult; therefore when the grounds for divorce were equalized in 1923, they were 50 times more divorces each year than they were in 1921. This increase illustrates that once given the opportunity most couples decided to separate, and this was mainly due to being legally allowed to do so. Another example of a change in the law which led to an increase in divorce, is the introduction of Legal Aid (1949) which made divorce cheaper and accessible to all social classes, item B suggests that divorce was hard to gain and this law made it easier for people to get a divorce, this made getting a divorce easier as it which provided people unable to pay for a solicitor with free legal aid, thus increasing divorces for people who did not divorce due to financial reasons. In 1969...
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...mistreats his spouse's mother then it can’t be used for a divorce. There was once an Italian man that brought his mother along on his honeymoon, then his new bride soon asked for a divorce. There is only two U.S Presidents who have been known to have been divorced: Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. They say couples that live in Republican states are twenty seven percent more likely to divorce than couples in Democratic states. (54 interesting facts about divorce) Couples who marry in the Republican states have a historically younger marriage than their Democratic counterparts. In ancient Chaldea, if...
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...There are many reasons why people get divorced. Many laws have been introduced changing how easy it is to get divorced since 1923. In the past divorce was rare, costs were high and there was stigma surrounding getting divorced as it was often looked down upon. However in 2012 almost a fifth of couples went through a divorce and this is because of changes in the law. Before 1923 women didn't have the same rights as men to divorce. Women could only divorce their husband if they had evidence to show that their husband had mistreated them, committed adultery or left for over 2 years. However in 1923 this was abolished and women now had the same rights as men to divorce. This resulted in more divorce because women were allowed to file divorce on the same basis as men and therefore almost twice the amount of divorces were granted. In 1949 there was the introduction of legal aid. This meant that poorer people could receive help with paying lawyers if they wanted to go through a divorce. This meant that poorer people could get divorces, which also lead to higher divorce rates. In 1969 their was a rise of feminism. This effected divorce rates greatly as women began to feel empowered and confident in their abilities to stand up to men and make their own decisions for their overall happiness. More women started to file for divorce if they were unhappy rather than staying with their husband for the sake of their children or out of fear of how their husband will react. In 1970...
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...Examine the reasons for changes in divorce rate since 1970 Since the 1960’s divorce rate began to increase dramatically but the biggest rise in divorce rate was in 1972 when it doubled and was 120,000. The divorce rate continued to rise and in 1993 reached its peak at 180,000. There has been explanations for the rise in divorce which are: secularisation, changes in law, divorce had become cheaper and also changing attitudes in society especially with women as they had begun to receive more rights. By the times divorce had become a lot more socially acceptable. In the 19th Century divorce was extremely difficult to obtain, more so for women. Eventually in 1923 grounds were equalised for men and women, but this was followed by a sharp rise in the number of divorce petitions from women. Again in 1972, the grounds widened to ‘irretrievable breakdown’ which made divorce easier to obtain and produced a doubling of the divorce rate overnight. The introduction of legal aid for divorce cases in 1949 lowered the cost of divorce. With each change in the law divorce rates have risen. The new right are against the introduction of new laws which make marriage easier as it breaks up the idea of a traditional family which they support. It lead to a trend in single parent households. There were many laws which helped divorce become a lot cheaper and easier to obtain, the most significant law put in place in examining the reasons for changes in divorce rate is the law which was passed in 1971...
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...Examine the reasons for changes in divorce rate since 1971. Divorce has been an increasing trend due to numerous reasons such as changes in attitude, changes in law and changes in the economic position of women. In 1941, the grounds for divorce were widened meaning that ‘irretrievable breakdown’ was allowed as grounds for divorce. Irretrievable breakdown means that a marriage stopped working, but there is no blame on the people within the marriage; the marriage simply broke down and the people within that marriage were no longer happy with each other. This lead to an increase in divorce because previously couples who did not love each other had no specific grounds for divorce, such as adultery, and this is why the divorce rate doubled in 1972. In 1993, divorce rates were at the highest they had ever been, peaking at 180,000. This may have been down to high expectations of what marriage would be like, and these expectations not being met. Functionalists such as Fletcher believe that over the last few centuries, and idea of ‘romantic love’ has become dominant; when the love dies, people see no reason to stay together. The obsession for finding ‘the one’ can be pursued after divorce. Another reason for divorce rate increasing is that the stigma that used to be attached to it is disappearing. People used to view divorce as shameful, the church condemned it and would refuse to marry people who had been divorced. However, divorce us now seen as bad luck for those involved rather...
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...explanations of the increase in the number of divorces since the 1960s Divorce refers a married couple ending their marriage contract between themselves. Official statistics show that the divorce rate has generally risen over the last 40 years; also there have been fluctuations during that time. Since the 1960s the numbers of divorces have increased greatly in the United Kingdom, the number of divorces doubled between 1961 and 1969, and had then doubled again by 1972. The upward trend continued, peaking in 1993 at 180,000. Since then, numbers have slightly decreased to 157,000 in 2001. This rate means that about 40% of marriages end in divorce. About 7 out of 10 applications for divorce come from women; this is in contrast to the situation in the past. For example, in 1946 only 37% of applications came from women – barely half todays figure. Sociologists have identified the following reasons for the increase in divorce: changes in the law, declining stigma and changing attitudes, secularisation, rising expectations of marriage and changes in the position of women. One explanation for the increase in the number of divorces since 1960 is the changes in law. Divorce was very difficult to do in the 19th century Britain, especially for women. Gradually, over time divorce has been made easier. There are three kinds of changes in the law; equalising the legal reasons for divorce been the sexes, widening the grounds for divorce and divorce being made cheaper. The most significant change...
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...Causes and Effects of Divorce Nancy Marie Brown January 1, 2002 "In the 1970s, divorce escalated like crazy. Women were entering the labor force in incredible numbers. Are those two things related," asks Alan Booth, "or aren't they? "And if divorce is not related to women working, what is it related to?" Booth, a Penn State sociologist, has been asking that question for 20 years. He himself has been divorced and remarried in the meantime, as has his co-investigator on the National Longitudinal Study of Marriage, Paul Amato. More to the point, they and their colleagues have amassed hours of survey data on 2,000 married men and women, interviewed by telephone, paper, or computer survey up to six times over the 20 years, "through a whole marital history, if you like," says Amato. "Some people in the study are on their third or fourth marriages. We've followed them through divorce, singlehood, and remarriage." They've also interviewed many of their children. Then in 2000, the research team interviewed a completely new random sample of 2,100 married individuals. "So we can look at two different kinds of change," Amato explains: "How individual marriages change over time, and how the population of married couples has changed between 1980 and 2000." Their results are changing the way people think about marriage and divorce, and particularly about the effects of divorce on children. "I think it's our study," says Booth, "that put the capstone on the idea that divorce can be bad for children...
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...Is Divorce A Good Or Bad Thing? Introduction Divorce is defined as a marriage ending before any of the spouses die. According to dictionary.com, “divorce is a judicial declaration dissolving a marriage in whole or in part, especially one that releases the husband and wife from all matrimonial obligations.” Some countries in which divorce has become commonplace are the United States and South Africa. Divorce is not considered as big a deal today as it has been in the past. There has been an increase in divorce. Some people believe that the age of a child is an important factor in determining the impact divorce may have on a child (Beekman, 1986). Some also believe that, gender has an impact on the reaction to divorce on both children and parents (Whitton, Rhoades, Stanley, & Markman, 2008). Others believe that the impact divorce may have on parents is when they have less personal relationship commitment to their own marriage and are less confident in their own ability to maintain a happy marriage (Whitton, Rhoades, Stanley, & Markman, 2008). People may also believe that the communities that surround the family unit may be the cause of divorce (Wolfinger, 2005). One of the positive reasons for divorce is that women are becoming dependent and working in many different workforces (Jennifer, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of divorce. In order to do this, the paper is divided in two sections. The first section will examine the...
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...Effects of Divorce on Kids Molly Rudkin Sociology 1113 Sec. 16 Years ago in the 1950s divorces were frowned upon. Very rarely did people hear about a couple getting a divorced. Many people considered divorce as a mark of personal failure. As years have gone by and society has changed in many different ways, divorce has become socially accepted in today’s society. Divorce is no longer considered a taboo. With divorce, different people are affected by it. Obviously the family members are the ones affected the most by this decision. But one group of family members that will always be affected, especially in the long run, are the kids. There are many causes of divorce today. There’s the fact that individualism is increasing and becoming a trend. Many people are so use to being on their own that when they have someone else in their lives that they also have to take care of, they’re not use to the adjustment (Society the Basics, pg. 386). Especially with the rise of independence women now have in today’s society, they no longer need a man to depend on. Women are more independent and are now able to support themselves. With the rise of women independency, divorces are now happening due to this. Some men aren’t use to being married to a dominant woman. Divorces involving children usually affect the child more than most people think. The kids are always at crossroads when it comes to making decisions involving parents. They feel like they are torn in two. “By not taking sides...
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...In life, things happen. Divorce just happens to be one of those things. In every marriage there are problems. No marriage is perfect. If the spouses choose not to share how they are feeling then chances of reaching a divorce at some point is very likely. I think that people do not take marriage vows serious. It seems that divorce is much easier than to work things out. “In the United States, researchers estimate that 40%–50% of all first marriages, and 60% of second marriages, will end in divorce. The most common reasons people give for their divorce are lack of commitment, too much arguing, infidelity, marrying too young, unrealistic expectations, lack of equality in the relationship, lack of preparation for marriage, and abuse,” according...
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...Examine the reasons for the changing patterns of marriage and divorce over the last 50 years Sude Dramali Families in Britain are continually changing over time, but over the last 50 years there have been major changes. There has been a huge increase in the numbers of divorce, and a decrease in the number of marriages. The divorce rate has especially increased, as now one-half of new marriages today are likely to end in divorce. New forms of the family are rising, such as lone parents, same sex marriages and cohabitation. These changes mean that families and households today bear little resemblance to those of fifty years ago, and the "typical family" no longer seems to exists. One of the reasons for the changing pattern of marriage and divorce is the changing role of women. Feminists might argue that women's expectations of life and the quality of their relationship have risen during the last century, and so are less likely to accept a traditional housewife role. Around three quarters of divorce petitions are initiated by women, which would imply that more women are unhappy with they're marriages than men are. On top of this; the employment of married women has dramatically increased, and now it is the norm for married women with children to also be in employment. This change is reflected in TV shows and films, as the mother role is no longer portrayed as only being a housewife, but also as a working mother with her own career. Being employed increases women's financial...
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...WSC 02 Professor Reesman 17 October 2010 Divorce and Separation in France The renounced psychologist Joyce Brothers states - "For some reason, we see divorce as a signal of failure, despite the fact that each of us has a right, and an obligation, to rectify any other mistake we make in life.” Divorce is the separation of two people who once had a marriage contract. The frequent reasons why people get a divorce are: infidelity, physical abuse, falling out of love, lack of commitment to the marriage, lack of communication between the spouses etc. Divorce was something new to France in the nineteenth century, it was allowed for the first time. The whole structure of the families started to change and women and men for the first time were allowed to stand up in what they believed in – divorce. Divorce first became legal in France on September 20, 1792. It was abolished in 1816, and was re-established in 1884 under the Third Republic. France had created divorce laws, and was regarded as a republican. “Under the ancient regime, marriage was indissoluble; after 1792, couples could divorce quickly and easily.” (Chastain, 2004) The divorce law of September 20, 1792 acknowledges the principles of marital breakdown where neither of the two parties would be named guilty for the divorce. This means that a divorce can be made through mutual consent, or the wife or the husband could sue for a divorce. This law made divorce affordable even to the poorest person, it was equally...
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...Nicki Kay Social Welfare HUS Final paper 4/13/16 Divorce In today’s modern world, there are many aspects of our everyday lifestyle that used to be frowned upon years ago, but have slowly became the norm of today’s culture. One of these aspects is divorce. “The divorced population has more than quadrupled from 1970 to 1996, growing from 3 percent to nearly 10 percent of adults in 25 years”(Credo Reference 2006). Within the United States, divorce has become a common process for many married couples. Overall, divorce is a concept that is more on the lines of a personal issue that just happens to be socially accepted in the modern lifestyle. There are many causes for the increase in divorce rates over the years, specifically around the 1970s and onward. These causes include: stigma, respect, the nofault law, cultural and societal expectations, and whether or not divorce is social class issue or not. In my own opinion, I think divorce has become a significant issue and is harmful to families, especially with children. Yes, there are times when divorce is understandable and recommended to better the family, but either way it is so detrimental to the children. This topic is very significant for children and families. It is important for people to recognize the issue because it can tear families apart, and it is unbelievably today. Divorce also can cause further physical and mental issues as well...
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