Is the Institution of Marriage at Risk - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: OF MARRIAGE Is the of Marriage at Risk? Is the of Marriage at Risk? Introduction It has been claimed that the institution of marriage is collapsing in our midst. Many people today believe that living together before marriage is a good way to discover whether or not they are compatible enough to get married. The typical course of marriage has admittedly changed, as more people seem to be cohabiting and postponing marriage now as compared to five decades ago. Research articles and books cite statistic after statistic to support the claim that marriage as an institution is in trouble (Cunningham & Thornton, 2005; Segrin & Nabi, 2002). Institution of Marriage In mainstream discourse, marriage is constructed as one of the oldest and most stable social institutions (Coontz, 2005). Marriage is an important institution in our society, and it accomplishes certain things that the government, individuals, and private enterprises cannot. For example, more than any other institution, marriage creates an environment where successful parenting can occur. Even though some single parents are very successful, and some married parents are failures, marriage often produces an atmosphere where mothers and fathers cooperate with each other and invest in their children. This is integral in a society that fosters an increasingly prolonged period of youthful dependency (Cunningham & Thornton, 2005). However, research has identified that that marriage as an institution is in trouble (Cunningham & Thornton, 2005; Segrin & Nabi, 2002). The typical course of marriage has admittedly changed, as more people seem to be cohabiting and postponing marriage now as compared to five decades ago across many countries. In United States, between 1960 and 2000, cohabiting unions has increased tenfold (Mitchell, 2007). In Canada, between 1981 and 1996, cohabiting unions went from representing 6% of all unions to 14% (Wu, 1998). In United Kingdom, between 1996 and 2006, this union has increased by over 60% to 2.3 million (Resolution.org.uk, 2012). With cohabitation, couples can 'test out' their love levels, so to speak, and consequently determine whether or not marriage is appropriate, necessary, and/or desired. Thus, the norms of marriage have changed, a process which can be refer to as the 'deinstitutionalization' of marriage. State of Marriage in United States The state of marriage in the United States today is vividly depicted in the statistics relating to marriage, divorce, and unmarried cohabitation. Rates of Marriage Today, Americans are less likely to marry than ever before. In 1970 there were 76.5 marriages per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15 and older. In 2002 that number had dropped to 43.4 marriages; a 40% decrease (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004; Mitchell, 2007). Some of this decline occurred because many people are delaying the age of their first marriage. In 1960 the median age for females to marry for the first time was 20-years-old and for males it was 23-years-old. Today, those ages have increased to 25-years-old and 27-years-old respectively. The percentage of all persons ages 15 and older who are married has also diminished. In 1960 69.3% of all males and 65.9% of females of this age were married. By 2003 those number had dropped to 57.1 % and 54.0% respectively (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004; Mitchell, 2007). These numbers include both people that have never married, and those that have married and then divorced. In order to control for a decrease in the number of married adults due to a delay in age for first marriages, statisticians looked at people ages 35 to 44 who were married. In this age range since 1960, the number of married women has dropped by 16% and the number of married men has dropped by 19% (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004; Kottak, 2008). These numbers are suggestive of the fact that more and more people are choosing to remain single throughout their entire lifetimes (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004). Some believe that because of the high divorce rate and the increased rate of unmarried cohabitation, those marriages that remain should, on average, be happier. However, this does not seem to be the case. Since 1973 the percentage of men ages 18 and older, who would describe their marriages as "very happy", has decreased by five percentage points. The percentage rate for women has decreased by 8.3 points. On a positive note, this trend reached a low point in 1994, and now seems to be headed in a positive direction (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004; Miller, 2008). Rates of Divorce "For the average couple marrying in recent years, the lifetime probability of divorce or separation remains close to 50 percent" (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2004, p. 18). The divorce rate in the United States has been on the rise since colonial times. During the baby boom years following World War II, the rate leveled off. However, starting around the year 1965 the incidence of divorce began to increase, and it more than doubled in the years between 1965 and 1980. In 1965 there were, on average, 9.2 divorces per 1,000 married women ages 15 and above. That number increased to 22.6 divorces in 1980. That was the historical high point for divorce in our country, and since then the number has fallen to 18.4 divorces (Fine & Harvey, 2006). This slight decline may be due to the fact that the average age for first marriages has been on the rise. This increase in age is associated with greater marital stability (Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). This higher divorce rate has led to an increase in the percentage of adults who are currently divorced. In 1960 the rate was 2.6 percent of females and 1.8 percent of all males. By the year 2000 those rates had quadrupled (Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). The percentage of divorced females is higher because divorced men are more likely to remarry than divorced women, and they also remarry sooner than women. Divorce rates vary among different sections of the population. For example, African Americans have a higher divorce rate than Caucasian Americans, and divorce is more common in the western part of the U.S. than in other parts. However, these differences have been diminishing. The South and the Midwest are currently experiencing divorce rates that are similar to those in the West. The Eastern seaboard and the Central Plains are the two areas with significantly lower rates. The reasons for these variations are not well understood. In addition, today, non-religious people, high school drop outs, and teenagers who marry have significantly higher divorce rates than religiously committed people, high school graduates, and those who marry after the age of 2l (Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). Certain studies have shown that the specific background characteristics of those entering into marriage have implications on their risk of divorce (e.g. White, 1990). As stated above, since 1980 the divorce rate has more or less plateaued. If this trend continues, then children born in the late 1970's and early 1980’s, many of whom are beginning to marry now, may face risks of divorce similar to those of their parents. This would be the first time this has occurred in many generations. Such a situation could "break the momentum that has increased marital instability over the last century" (Goldstein, 1999, p.413). While this recent plateau may well prove to be significant, it may also only prove to be only a slight fluctuation (Ruggles, 1997). Rates of Unmarried Cohabitation Between 1960 and 2002 the number of unmarried cohabitating couples in America increased by a factor of eleven. In 1960 the number of these couples was approximately 439,000 and by 2002 the number had reached 4,898,000 (Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). Unmarried cohabitation is defined as couples who share a household, who are not married, and who are sexual partners (Miller, 2008). Some estimate that approximately one fourth of all women between the ages of 25 and 39 currently live with their partner in an unmarried household. Fifty years ago very few couples lived together before marriage, but today over 50% of couples do so (Bumpass and Lu, as cited in Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). Unmarried cohabitation can serve different purposes. For some it is a precursor to marriage, for others it is simply preferable to living alone, and for some it is an alternative to marriage. It is most common among those with lower income levels and lower levels of education. It is also more common for people that have been divorced, people whose parents divorced, people who grew up without a father, people who tend to be less religious, and people who experienced a great deal of marital discord during their childhood. Today, 40 percent of cohabitating households contain children (Popenoe &Whitehead, 2004). Many people today believe that living together before marriage is a good way to discover whether or not they are compatible enough to get married. They feel that this is a manner in which they can potentially avoid a bad marriage and a possible divorce. The research in this area, however, does not corroborate this view. The data is mixed as to whether or not unmarried cohabitation leads to stronger marriages (Cohan and Kleinbaum, 2002). Conclusion In observing the statistics above, we can understand a lot about the current state of marriage in our society today, and how the state has changed over time. The institution of marriage is not on solid ground. A fifty percent divorce rate coupled with the fact that many people remain in unsatisfying, distressed, and abusive relationship leaves a great deal of room of improvement. There is so much to be gained from strengthening the state of marriage in our society, not only for the couples themselves, but also for their children, and for society in general. References Cohan, C. L. and Kleinbaum, S. (2002). Toward a greater understanding of the cohabitation effect: Premarital cohabitation and marital communication. Journal of Marriage and Family vol. 64(1) 180–192. Coontz, S. (2005). Marriage: A history. New York: Penguin Group, Inc. Cunningham, M., & Thornton, A. (2005). The influence of union transitions on white adults' attitudes toward cohabitation. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(1), 710-720. Fine, M. , & Harvey, J. (2006). The handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Goldstein, J.R. (1999). The Leveling of Divorce in the United States. Demography, 36,409-414. Kottak, C. P. (2008). Cultural anthropology (12th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Miller, B. (2008). Cultural anthropology in a globalizing world. Boston: Pearson. Mitchell, Barbara A. (2007). The Boomerang Age: Transitions to Adulthood in Families. Aldine Transaction. Popenoe, D. & Whitehead, B.D. (2004). The State of Our Unions 2004. Piscataway, NJ: The National Marriage Project. Resolution.org.uk (2012). Information Retrieved January 7, 2012 from http://www.resolution.org.uk/site_content_files/files/cohabitation_key_statistics.pdf Ruggles, S. (1997). The Rise of Divorce and Separation in the United States, 1880­-1990. Demography, 34, 455-466. Segrin, C., & Nabi, R. L. (2002). Does television viewing cultivate unrealistic expectations about marriage? Journal of Communication, 52(1),247-263. White, Lynn K. (1990) Determinants of Divorce: A Review of Research in the Eighties. Journal of Marriage and the Family 52(1). 904–12. Wu, Z. (1998). Recent trends in marriage patterns in Canada. Policy Options, 2(1), 1-6. Read More