Essay On Divorce Laws

Assess the view that changes in the law are the main cause of rising divorce rates (16 Marks)

Over the years people’s opinions of divorce have changed rapidly. The divorce rate has increased since 1940. Many argue the divorce rate has increased because of the change in society or the rising expectations of marriage. Whereas others disagree and argue that it is because of the changes in law that divorce rates have increased. Divorce has become more socially accepted and there is less social disapproval and condemnation of divorces. Divorce is when married couples can be legally separated which makes them unmarried; Britain has increased in divorce rates by over 100%.

Most people argue that the changes in law have caused the increase in divorce rates as it has become easier and cheaper to get a divorce.Divorce laws since 1857 have had a major effect of the divorce rate. Laws that have been put in place benefit married couples;some couples are simply taking advantage of more liberal divorce laws. Divorce was very difficult to obtain in the 19th-century Britain, especially for women. Gradually changes in the law have made divorce easier. There have been three kind s of change in the law; equalising the legal reasons for divorce between the sexes, widening the grounds for divorce and making divorce cheaper.
Before 1857 divorce was virtually non-existent and only obtainable by a special and costly act of Parliament. Laws such as The Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 have made it easier to gain a divorce. This Act allowed couples to get a divorce if it had been proved in a court as a matrimonial offence such as adultery. Men could divorce unfaithful wives, but women also had to prove husbands’ cruelty or another matrimonial offence such as adultery, divorce was also quite expensive at this time. Adultery was the most common matrimonial offence in 1857 and most divorces were taken through due to this reason. In later years such as 1923 this act was changed, women had rights to terminate marriages and men and women had equal rights, this made the divorce rate increase as women had more power to dismiss any marriages they were unhappy with. Another law which has influenced the divorce rate is the Legal Aid and Advice Act 1949. This act gave financial assistance towards solicitors for a divorce. This therefore made divorce a lot easier for working class citizens.

Furthermore in 1969 the most changes were made to the divorce laws. The Divorce Law Reform Act allowed couples to have a divorce if it had been demonstrated that their marriage had been broken down completely and was beyond repair. This act made irretrievable breakdown of marriage the sole ground for divorce, established by proving unreasonable behaviour, adultery, desertion or separation either with or without consent. Eventually divorce was available after two years’ agreed separation or five years if only one spouse would want to have a divorce. Another law that made it a lot easier for couples to get a divorce was the Family Law Act 1996, this law changed the amount of time for a divorce to 18 months, it also introduced a new factor which was to provide counselling for couples as a period of reflection to see if their marriage could be fixed after having some counselling to sort problems out. Children were also asked what their opinion of the situation was; eventually this idea was abandoned because research found people were likely to get a divorce even after having a period of reflection.

Although divorce is the termination of marriage couples can and do find other solutions to the problem of an unhappy marriage. However as divorce has become more easily available, these solutions have become unpopular. Yet although changes in the law have given people the freedom to divorce more easily, this does not in itself explain why more people should choose to take advantage of this freedom. To explain the rise in divorce rates we must therefore look at the other changes too like social attitude towards divorce. There are several changes in society such as; the changing role of women, rising expectations of marriage, growing secularisation and greater availability of and more effective, contraception. These changes all play a major part in the increase of divorce rates.
The changing roles of women have had an adverse effect towards the current divorce rate women are becoming more independent and can decidewhether they wouldliketoend their marriage depending the circumstances.one reason for women’s increased willingness to seek divorce is that improvements in their economic position have made them less financially dependant on their husband and therefore freer to end an unsatisfactory marriage. Around three quarters of women initiate divorces. Most divorces are granted to women statistics show that 7 out of 10 divorces are granted to women. Moreover compared to the 19th century women have more equal rights with men, an example would be that more women are employed this then changes women’s expectations. This suggests that women are more unhappy in their marriages than men, and this could be due to their expectations of life have risen and many women are no longer happy to accept their role in the family as housewife and mother. Lastly women have more freedom to do whatever they want whenever they want.

Another factor that affects the divorce rate is the rising expectations of marriage, functionalist sociologists such as Fletcher argue that the higher expectations people place on marriage today are a major cause of rising divorce rates. Higher expectations make couples nowadays less willing to tolerate anunhappy marriage. This is linked to the ideology of romantic love- an idea that has become dominant over the last couple of centuries his is the belief that marriage should be based solely on love and that for each individual there is a Mr or Mrs right out there. It follows that if love dies there is no longer any justification for remaining married and every reason to divorce as to be able to renew the search for one’s true soulmate. The higher expectations mean couples are more likely to end a relationship which earlier generations might have tolerated.

A third factor that affects the divorce rate is growing secularisation, this refers to the decline in the influence of religion in society. Many sociologists argue that religious institutions and ideas are losing their influence and society is becoming more secular. People are not as religious as they used to so they do not see marriage as an important part of their life more than 65% of marriages no longer involve religious ceremonies. According to 2001 census data, 43% of young people with no religion were cohabiting, as against only 34% of Christians, 17% of Muslims, 11% of Hindus and 10% of Sikhs. At the same time many churches have also begun to soften their views on divorce and divorcees.

Furthermore a fourth factor is the greater availability of and more effective contraception. The greater availability of more contraception has made it safer for couples to have sex outside of their marital relationship. Contraception is also cheaper and easier to use and makes it better for couples. This affects the divorce rate because women can have sex outside marriage and if a spouse was to find out that his/her partner not being loyal they would instantly want a divorce.

To conclude I think that if someone gets a divorce it depends on the way the relationship is going if one partner feels that their marriage is not working then it is up to them to decide to get a divorce. I also feel that the laws have made it easier to get a divorce due to the fact that it is easier and cheaper and women have their own rights and opinions as they are more equal to men. The laws do influence the opinions of couples but they cannot physically make someone change their mind about their relationship.