With more people in the UK now living alone and more single parents choosing to establish their own households, the part that the family plays in our everyday lives is changing. Within ten years, married people will become a minority in the UK. This book explores the latest trends and views. It also examines the issues of divorce and separation, particularly looking at how children can cope with family changes.
The information comes from a wide variety of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Marriage and Cohabitation
The family then and now, The family today, Changing marriage, Breaking uneven, Origins of the myth of common-law marriage, Reasons for cohabitation, Alone and never married, Singletons count the cost of being independent, Marriage can save you money!, Arranged marriage, The truth behind arranged marriages, Significant others, Bridget Jones generation is single . . . and proud of it, National Marriage Week, With this prenup I thee wed, Pre-nuptial agreements, The dinner party verdict: don’t panic about marriage.
Chapter Two: Divorce and Separation
Divorce, Legal jargon for divorce, Why relationship support is important, Rise in divorces is blamed on the web, For first-time losers in love, life starts again at 50, Divorce through the eyes of a child, Together and apart, How to be a good parent after divorce, Mediation and you.
Key Facts
Additional Resources
Index
Acknowledgements
• Only one-fifth of households are made up of a married couple with dependent children. (page 2)
• The number of cohabiting couples is predicted to soar from two million today to 3.8 million over the next 25 years. (page 7)
• Supporters of arranged marriages say that divorce rates are lower than among Western society because parents are better able to choose a suitable partner for their children. The counter argument suggests that the pressure of society as a whole and from the two families concerned keeps the marriage together whether it is successful or not. (page 13)
• More than half of single women were ‘very happy with their lives as they are’, compared to 46 per cent of men. (page 20)
• 2003 saw the biggest increase in divorces in two decades. Marriage break-ups rose by 5,755 to 153,490 in 2003 – the third successive annual rise in a single year since 1985. (page 31)
• Mediation is about a couple directly negotiating their own decisions with the help of a third party. It is an alternative to solicitors negotiating for them or having decisions made for them by the courts. (page 38)
Trends in Marriage Study Guide
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.50
ISBN: 978 1 86168 332 8
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