Contemporary Marriages
Marriage: Private and Public Spheres
• Marriage is a dynamic relationship in which couples create their own unique social organization.
• However, there are patterns across marriages that vary by social class, race, gender, and
locality.
Macro Influences on Marriage
• The Law
• State laws determine: age, relatives, health, waiting period, inheritance, & property division
requirements
• The Issue of Homosexual Marriages
• Although homosexual behavior between consenting adults in private is legal, marriage
between homosexuals is banned in 41 states & not recognized by the federal government
• Marriage in MA & CA; “civil unions” in VT & CT; state level benefits in HA, ME, & NJ; domestic
partners recognized by some cities & employers
• Religion
• Norms for sexuality, reproduction, gender relations within marriage
• Societal Gender Expectations
• Changing social definitions for gender roles create ambiguity and potential for greater
adjustment problems
Recent Trends
• Significant changes: only 7% of households fit traditional nuclear family pattern, cohabiting
households almost as likely to include children as married couple households, 60% of married
couples are dual-earners, 13% of couples are childless, 12% of households are headed by
women with children
• Unmarried Adults – The number of singles and cohabiting heterosexuals is increasing.
• People living alone make up ¼ of all households
• Majority of first marriages are preceded by cohabitation, higher divorce rate for cohabiting
couples who marry
• Age at First Marriage – The median age of first marriage is increasing for women (25) and men
(27).
• Consequences for women include higher education, fewer children, more independence &
flexibility in making life choices
• Family Size – The fertility rate has declined steadily throughout most of the last 200 years.
• Average household size now = 2.6 persons
• Racial Mixed Marriages – Interracial and interethnic marriages are increasing, but 95% of all
marriages are between partners of the same race (homogamy).
• African Americans have the strongest endogamy, followed by Asian Americans, Hispanics,
and Whites
• Younger and better educated Americans are more likely to intermarry
• Life Span and Marriage – Increased longevity is one explanation for the relatively high rate of
divorce.
• Couples have the potential to live together for 50 years, the last 25 without children
• Divorce – peaked in 1981 & and gradually declined to 3.8 couples per 1000 population in 2003.
• About ½ of all marriages are expected to eventually end in divorce
• Remarriage –75% of divorced men, 60 % of divorced women remarry
• Differences based on age, race, length of time after divorce, parental status of women
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