Marriage in the United States

Among Americans, there is the largest number of marriages compared to other industrial countries( 10.6 per 1,000 people in 1981).High levels of marriages are also observed in the Soviet Union( 10.7 people in 1978), Egypt( 9.5 in 1979) and Japan( 6.8 in 1979).So it was always. More than 90 percent of members of each age cohort since the early 1800s eventually married.

However, over the past 40 years in this regard, there have been huge changes. This is reflected mainly in the behavior of young people between the ages of 20 and 24 years. As shown in Scheme 1, the number of men and women of this age, never married, began to decline at the beginning of the Second World War and reached a low level by the end of 1960. At that time, the average age of first-time marriages was 22, 5 years, and for women 20.2 years. Over the next 20 years, these rates have steadily increased, and by 1984 more than half of Americans aged 20 to 24 years had never been married.

Paul Glick and Arthur Norton( 1979) give several reasons for this trend. During the Vietnam War, many young men married late, intending to enter the military service or continue their education. Women usually continued to study at school, and then went to work to provide for themselves. Moreover, in the late 60's - early 70's children;born in the boom period after the Second World War, reached adulthood and applied for jobs. Since many people preferred to marry after they are firmly on their feet - they will get a job and can afford to create a family and raise their children, - tough competition in the labor market has helped to reduce the level of marriages.

Scheme Number of men and women aged 20 to 24 who never married

Remarriage

Many marriages concluded in a certain year are repeated. In fact, in 1975 the number of repeated marriages amounted to almost one quarter of all marriages. It increased significantly in comparison with 1960, when the number of repeated marriages was one seventh of all marriages. The level of repeated marriages peaked in the early 1970s and declined in the second half of the decade( Glick, Norton, 1979).

The reasons for this trend are still unclear. Apparently, the provision of material benefits to divorced women gives them the opportunity to do without a husband, which helps to reduce the level of repeated marriages. However, the results of the program to provide significant financial assistance to families in Denver and Seattle only to a small extent confirm this idea. The increase in income caused a decrease in the level of repeated marriages among women of Mexican descent, but this was not observed among black women or white women.

Endogamy

In American society, factors such as religious belief, race, social class and age, determine the group with whose members this individual prefers to marry. Preference for representatives of the general religious group is confirmed by the high level of marriages between them. Between 1973 and 1978, 92.6 percent of Protestants married only Protestants. Similarly, 82 percent of Catholics and 88.2 percent of Jews entered. These figures almost do not differ from the data obtained in 1957, when Catholics and Protestants were three times more likely to contract marriage with the bearers of their faith than with the Gentiles. Jews were 14 times more likely to marry other Jews than with representatives of an alien faith.

When young people are asked about their willingness to marry gentiles, they are supportive of this, although in fact marriages between members of different religious groups are only 6.4 percent( or slightly more) of all marriages.

A survey of college students showed that 55 percent of young people were willing to enter into marriage with non-believers without any hesitation.72 percent of Catholics favored such marriages, but only 12 percent of devout Jews did not condemn them.

People get married with members of their faith because they usually have common values, they belong to the same social class and, as a rule, live next door. However, it is quite understandable that social pressure, directed against marriages with other faiths, plays an important role here. Probably, parents object to mixed marriages, fearing that an "alien" element will be introduced into the culture of the family. Finally, most clergy representatives oppose marriages with gentiles, since family conflicts on a religious / southerly basis lead to a decrease in church attendance by both parents and children.

The number of marriages between representatives of different races is much lower than the number of marriages between carriers of different religions. For example, only 3 percent of Blacks are married to white women, and Negro women have 0.1 percent of white husbands. In general, the smaller the group, the more its members marry people belonging to another race. So, a study in one of the districts of Los Angeles confirmed that whites are much less likely to enter mixed marriages than Negroes and Japanese. The reason for the low level of marriages between people of different races is quite understandable. Although the laws prohibiting such marriages( mainly in the South in 1967) by the decision of the Supreme Court were abolished, pressure from the family, friends and community members often prevents people of different races from marrying.

Finally, people tend to marry with those who live nearby, has exactly the same status. The study of married couples in Oslo( Norway) showed that the number of marriages between people living within one mile of each other is twice the number of casual marriages. The level of marriages between people with the same social status is about one and a half times higher than the level of casual marriages. These two factors - geographic proximity and common status, are likely to interact. People who live nearby usually tend to marry in part because they have roughly the same social status. In turn, this is due to the fact that people of the same status usually live in one quarter or neighboring neighborhoods.

Divorces

Sometimes, after the wedding bells rang, the myth of romantic love can collapse. The statement of one wife is cited in Lilian Rubin's book The Worlds of Pain( 1976);"The first blow that struck us was caused by financial problems. We are mired in poverty. When I got married, I dreamed about another life, but I was in a difficult situation, trying to make ends meet, getting only 1.5 dollars per hour from my husband;besides, he often did not work and did not receive anything for many days and hours. "The young spouse said: "I could not understand what the hell she was picking at me, trying to do something, because I, too, do not like such a life. .. I could not understand how I ended up in this bondage. I compared myself with friends, because they still enjoyed life. Nobody urged them, did not tell them what to do and how to spend money. They worked at will. I was jealous of the guys who were not yet married, and I wanted to be in their place again. "

Of course, money problems are just one of the causes of conflicts between spouses. Disputes about the upbringing of children, sex, relationships with relatives, as well as religious and political differences can serve as other possible causes of failure in married life. According to Blood and Wolff( 1960), marriages are unsustainable if the relationship of spouses with relatives becomes the main problem that destroys their lives. The most serious conflicts arise between spouses about the upbringing of children. A lot of disagreements can be associated with role conflicts, but they are less conducive to the instability of marriage than other problems.(Rum conflicts arise over the work of the wife and the division of domestic labor. Women often complain that their husbands receive little, while husbands blame their wives for mismanaging households.) It seems that conflicts are most dangerous due to personal differencesbetween spouses, the habits that one of the partners denounces, such as drunkenness or smoking, often lead to collisions, which can lead to severe stress in the marital life. "

Regardless of the reasons, the divorce rate in the US is the highest inJireh: in 1981 it reached 5.3 per 1000 marriages from 1965 to 1978, this rate was twice as high, however, during 1977 and 1978 it has leveled off somewhat and amounted to about 5 per 1000 marriages

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As shown in the diagram, the increase in the number of divorces occurs for a long time and is uneven. From the middle of the XIX century.until the second decade of the twentieth century.there was only a slight increase in the level of divorce. Soon after World War I( 1920) and World War II( 1946), this level increased significantly due to the disintegration of marriages concluded during the war. He declined during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Undoubtedly, this was due to the shortage of jobs and housing, and people simply could not afford to divorce. Finally, as already noted, the most noticeable increase in the divorce rate occurred between 1965 and the end of the 1970s.

Many factors influence the divorce rate. The most important among them are economic conditions. When it's easy to find a job, young people are optimistic about their ability to provide for a family. But the earlier people marry, the higher the probability of their divorce. Teenagers are divorced twice as often as people who marry more than 20 years. However, some sociologists believe that the tendency to increase the number of divorces is not due to the instability of marriages, rather, it is related to the opportunities to easily obtain a divorce. They note that the number of divorced couples has increased more than the number of spouses who live separately. Thus, divorce appears to have become a more common way of settling serious conflicts between spouses that have always existed.

Diagram. Divorce rate in the USA, 1860-1984

Changing attitudes towards divorce and improving the economic status of women, probably, also contributed to the divorce of some couples. If a woman has a regular job, it is easier for her to provide herself and her children than when she should only rely on alimony, child support and other state subsidies. The availability of benefits is likely to benefit women with a low level of education and not seeking to make a career, but it also contributes to the spread of divorce.

Pressure on family life

As a result of trends, the American family found itself in a whirlpool of dramatic social changes, and it can hardly be considered a stable social institution. These often opposing changes contributed to the creation of several sources of tension in modern society.

Families with both spouses

One of the most dramatic changes in recent years has been the increase in the number of women involved in working life. The employment of both parents has a deeper effect on families with small children than on families where children have grown up( or do not have children).Nevertheless, the number of families with infants or preschool children, where both parents work, is likely to increase. Women born in the boom period already have their own children. Many plan to continue working after their birth. According to statistics, almost half of them will return to work when their youngest children turn 6 years old.

In families where both spouses work, there can be a stressful situation that Ron and Robert Rapoport call the congestion dilemma of

. For example, when returning from work, the husband or wife finds a picture in the house: there is a mess around, children are fighting, the refrigerator is empty. This probably creates tension in the family. Both husband and wife can also face a problem called identity dilemma - it's about trying to immediately cope with many responsibilities. A woman who grew up with her mother or other close relatives, housewives, probably knows how to attach a man to homework, but she does not always manage to guess to what extent her husband can cope with this role. In turn, the husband can praise his wife for bringing a salary to the house, but, most likely, he does not like it if she gets more than he does.

Although the families where both spouses work are becoming more widespread, the division of labor on a sexual basis is firmly rooted in the life of the American family. Recently Blood and Wolff have established that this division is not so strictly observed if the level of education of the wife is higher than that of the husband. How are family responsibilities divided between husband and wife if the wife works? A random family survey conducted by Walker and Woodr in Syracuse, New York, showed that the more time a wife works out of the house for a salary, the fewer household chores she performs, but her overall congestion increases. However, husbands whose wives work outside the home usually help them in the household no more than husbands of non-working wives, and the total workload of husbands( at home and at work) actually becomes less the more the wife works.

Scheme Work on wages and domestic work performed by husbands and wives

Other time budget studies usually confirmed the results of the survey in Syracuse. They prove the correctness of the hypothesis that men do not want to participate equally with their wives in raising children, cleaning the house and performing other household duties, even if their wives are working. However, in one of the studies, a curious feature was revealed, which manifests itself in the distribution of domestic concerns. Lake found that when family members were asked to jointly solve the problem of distributing household chores, they found a common language and usually cast away traditional sexual roles. But when they had to solve the same problems in the presence of strangers, they performed traditional roles. Lake concludes that an equal distribution of responsibilities is facilitated within the family, when there are no outsiders present. This is due to the fact that in the presence of outsiders, both men and women try to match traditional "patterns".

Interaction between parents and children

Sociologists believe that conflicts between parents and children are inevitable in a society in which rapid changes occur. In our society there are disagreements between young people and their parents on a wide range of controversial issues, from when to go to bed, and to the choice of a partner in life. This "gap between generations" was especially deep in the 1960s, when college students sometimes strongly opposed the values ​​of a generation of thirty-year-old people who were striving for a successful career and a quiet life in the suburbs.

But contrary to the widespread view of the inevitability of intergenerational conflicts, the most amazing discovery of several studies has been the identification of a high level of agreement between children and their parents. For example, one study showed that college students usually agree with their fathers on controversial issues such as sexual norms, environmental protection, the causes of riots on campuses, attitudes toward war and segregation. Young men usually disagree more with their fathers than girls. Students of colleges who have studied longer at school tend to disagree with their fathers.

Disagreements are more likely between fathers - working class representatives and their offspring, who have become college students. Fathers who have high academic degrees or who have conservative views usually do not share the views of their children on politics and morality. However, on the whole, mutual consent is observed here much more often than disagreements. To get a deeper understanding of these astonishing results, Bowerman and Bar talked to 18664 young men. It was found that young people who grew up in families, where parents have the same influence, usually learn the values, concepts and opinions of their parents. This is not observed in families where only one parent is vested, especially the mother.

Consequences of the divorce

The doubling of the number of divorces compared to 1956 means that many married couples and their children are deeply affected by the unhappiness in the family, usually accompanied by divorce. Summarizing the results of many studies, Cherlin notes that divorced men and women at times miss their ex-husbands or wives, are worried, even if they themselves were initiators of the divorce and considered their marriage unhappy. Divorce immediately affects the morale of children. Preschoolers usually feel fear, insecurity and consider themselves guilty of breaking parents. Children of older age express their irritation more directly. Most children settle down for a year or two after the divorce, although some of them feel unhappy and lonely for five years after the divorce or even longer, even if the parent with whom they live has remarried.

Single-parent families

At the beginning of this article, we talked about the rapid increase in the number of families with one parent over the past twenty years. The main reason for this change is the growing number of divorced women who have not remarried, as well as women with illegitimate children.

The rapid increase in the number of divorces contributed to the creation of many non-traditional families. If the divorce rate observed in the mid-1970s persists, the parents of about three-fifths of all Negro children and one-sixth of all white children will divorce before their children reach 16 years of age. Many divorced spouses prefer to live separately from their parents and relatives, although in the past it was not accepted. Most often, children stay with their mother. Therefore, the number of families headed by women has risen sharply.

Families with a single parent are also formed when illegitimate children are born. The level of extramarital births has increased significantly over the past 15 years. For most divorced women, as well as women who have children and never married, the most serious are economic problems. Although many divorced women( there are approximately 40 percent of them) are eligible for some material assistance from ex-husbands, they do not receive it at all or receive irregularly.

Most divorced or never married single parents are forced to seek work to provide for their families. Often they manage to find only low-paid jobs. If a single mother can only count on a child support allowance, she usually lives on the edge or below the poverty line.

The worry about money is not the only problem that families of single parents face. Lonely people often feel humiliated in a society where marriage is important. In the absence of assistance in the upbringing of children by another adult, many single parents feel excluded from society. And the duty assigned to them seems beyond their control. However, there is reasonable evidence that children growing up in single-parent families do not become infringed. Numerous studies suggest that the presence of both parents or the absence of one of them has almost no effect on the quality of the child's upbringing or the socialization of children. It does not affect their sexual identity, health, social achievements and attitudes toward marriage and family. In fact, juvenile offenders often grow up in unhappy families with two parents than in a normal setting created by a single parent.

Given these data, it can not be concluded that single-parent families pose a serious threat to the well-being of children. However, before the figures in the field of social policy a dilemma arises. Single parents often need material help and advice from the community. In accordance with the principles of humanity, single-parent families should receive the support necessary for them. But creating too comfortable conditions for single parents and getting rid of their economic and psychological burden - the destiny of single people - can further increase the level of divorce and reduce the number of repeated marriages. This does not suit those who manage social policy.

Alternative families

A single-parent family represents a significant departure from a traditional family with two parents, to a large extent it encroaches on the almost complete monopoly of the latter. But over the past few decades, several other alternatives to family life have emerged. Among them the main are joint life without marriage and the creation of a commune.

Collaborative Life

In recent years, the number of heterosexual couples living together, but not marrying, has increased significantly. From 1970 to 1981, their numbers increased from 523,000 to 1,1808,000 people, that is to say, in the 1970s and 1970s.increased by 246 percent.

Some non-traditional families are not based on sexual relationships, for example, they include older women who are renting rooms to college students, or older men who hire nurses or housekeepers who live in their home. In addition, it should be borne in mind that although the number of such cohabitation has increased significantly, they account for only 2 percent of all families in the US.

Most non-conjugated pairs do not have children. However, they challenge the monopoly of the family to regulate intimate relationships between adults. Of particular concern is the legal aspect of these links, since there is no law that controls the behavior of partners. The lawsuits brought against actor Lee Marvin and other celebrities became precedents that women who stop such ties may demand some kind of "alimony".But precedents can not be considered guarantees. It is clear that partners and, probably, their children have less legal rights in the event of a gap than married couples.

In many respects couples who do not marry resemble spouses. For example, it has been reported that such partners have values, attitudes and goals, usually inherent in spouses. But, as a rule, they are less religious and less likely to attend church than legitimate husbands and wives.

Life in the commune

The tendency to create communes arose in the 60s as a form of protest against the existing social order. Many people who chose communal life considered the traditional family to be unstable and inefficient. Some communes also set themselves religious and other utopian goals. In most communes there were many adults;some were married to each other;Together with adults their children lived. However, marriage and blood ties played only a secondary role in the life of the communes.

The tendency to create communes as a form of ideological protest began to weaken in the 1970s, and at present it can not be considered vital. Nevertheless, during the 1970s the number of communal connections continued to grow, although they began to be created not on ideological grounds, but rather for practical reasons. For example, in communes, people can be given more opportunities for economic cooperation than in a nuclear family.

Even after the communes lost their inherent ideological enthusiasm, new members continued to join them, mostly people who were not satisfied with family life. As a result of the study of the city commune in Detroit, held in 1972, Stein, Polk and Polk established that, according to their participants, emotional support was the most vital necessity and people hoped for it in communes rather than in the family. In addition, members of the commune saved material assets, which were shared equally, here women were less under the authority of men. However, the study found that in the commune, women still performed purely "female" duties - preparing food and cleaning. Men, as a rule, were engaged in "men's" affairs - they worked in the garden, mending household things and bicycles. Some sociologists find similarities between communes and extended families from the lower and working classes. Like children in the families of workers, the young inhabitants of the communes have many models for imitation among men and women, often they are guarded by several people, replacing them with fathers and mothers. Complaints of members of the commune can usually be heard in families of representatives of the lower class: they often talk about disagreements on economic issues, the impossibility of seclusion, the lack of communication with the outside world and unequal workload.

Finally, in the communes where it is accepted to express their feelings frankly and not to be too cautious, fathers often abandon their wives and children. As a result, the number of women who must be the only parent for their children increases, which is also characteristic of the lower class. Like women from the lower class, single women living in communes usually hope to gain the support and love of others.

Family Policy

In this article we learned about the occurrence of many changes in the family and family life;many observers view them as social problems that deserve public attention. Among them, the following problems should be highlighted:

1) decrease in the level of marriages;

2) an increase in the number of divorces and spouses living separately;

3) increase in the number of couples living together who do not marry;

4) increase in the number of children born out of wedlock;

5) an increase in the number of single-parent families headed by women;

6) reduction of the birth rate and family size;

7) the change in the distribution of family responsibilities, due to the increasing involvement of women in labor activity;participation of both parents in the upbringing of the child.

While these changes are uneven and alarming in varying degrees, they all together influenced the creation of a new area of ​​knowledge called "family policy".This term refers to all aspects of social policy that have a direct or indirect impact on the size of the family, its stability, health, wealth, etc. Sincere interest in family policy throughout the country became especially noticeable in 1973.

It was then that experts met under the chairmanship of Senator Walter Monfeale. They stressed the importance of the family in American society and expressed concern about the changes that we just mentioned. Many of these experts unequivocally called for the implementation of the "national family policy".

Unlike many countries in Europe and around the world, the US does not have a well-defined family policy. Rather, it has only a minor impact on society, and it is carried out by several unrelated organizations. Among the measures affecting the family, it is worth noting the withholding of income tax on children, assistance to families with children who are dependent on their parents( allowance), efforts to provide families with low-cost state apartments and the provision of family planning services. It is difficult to say whether a single national family policy will ever be held in the United States. But it is easy to foresee that, in connection with the changes that are taking place, the problems of the family as an institution are likely to arise, and there will continue to be demands for government intervention.

The future of the American family

What is the significance of the changes in family life discussed in this article? There is no clear answer to this question. According to some observers, these changes portend "darkness and destruction."They believe that the family has reached a state of deep decay, and this process is irreversible. The life of adults of tomorrow will be affected by the harmful effects of the environment that surrounded them in childhood.

However, optimists adhere to the opposite point of view. They are positive about the destruction of the nuclear family. They are happy to expect that new forms of the family will emerge, contributing to the creation of a more supportive environment and the self-expression of all family members.

There are many different predictions about the future of the family. For example, Edward Cornish( 1979) suggested the possibility of seven trends in the development of a future family. Among them is the preservation of a modern family;return to the traditional family;destruction of the family;the revival of the family( by improving the dating service with the use of computers, providing advice, etc.) and creating "fake" families based on common interests and needs.

What really happens will probably not exactly match these predictions. On the other hand, the family is flexible and resilient. The predictions of "darkness and death" reflect rather the anxiety of researchers, and not the real situation. In the end, signs of complete destruction of the family is not observed.

However, we can confidently say that the traditional family is a thing of the past. The American family is influenced by such powerful and enduring forces that the revival of the traditional family is not foreseen. As we have learned, the history of the American family is accompanied by the gradual loss of its functions. Current trends indicate that the American family's monopoly on regulating the intimate relations of adults, procreation and caring for young children will continue in the future. However, there will be a partial decay of even these relatively stable functions. The reproduction function inherent in the family will be implemented by unmarried women. The socialization function performed by the family will be more divided between the family and outsiders( gamblers, children care centers).Friendly disposition and emotional support can be found not only in the family. Thus, the family will take its place among several other social structures that manage the reproduction, socialization and regulation of intimate relations. Since the destruction of the family's functions will continue, it will lose its inherent sanctity, but certainly will not disappear from American society.

Abstract

1. A family is a union of people based on blood relationship, marriage or adoption, connected by a commonality of life and mutual responsibility for the upbringing of children;family members often live in the same house. In the United States, this definition includes many ways. Studies of peasant families in western Ireland, family life peculiarities on the Trobriand Islands and Israeli kibbutz testify to the fact that traditions despised in one society can be considered the norm by carriers of another culture.

2. Sociologists and anthropologists compare the family structure in different societies according to six parameters: the form of the family, the form of marriage, the pattern of power distribution, the choice of partner, place of residence, and the origin and mode of inheritance of property.

3. The family is analyzed in the mainstream of two main areas: functionalism and conflict theory. Supporters of functionalism analyze the family in terms of its functions or social needs, to which it serves. Over the past 200 years, the main changes in the functions of the family are connected with its destruction as a cooperative labor association, and with the restriction of the ability to transfer the family status from parents to children. Among the main functions of the family should be noted the socialization of children, although it involves other groups. As the industrial society and the welfare state emerged and developed, the family's functions for the welfare of its members changed radically.

4. Supporters of conflict theory attach primary importance to the distribution of power within the family;studies show that family members who are more likely to own material means have more power. In the opinion of Marx and Engels, under the influence of the industrial revolution, the family was transformed into a set of monetary relations. In accordance with the modern version of the concept, the family is the place where economic production and the redistribution of material resources are carried out;conflicts arise between the interests of each member of the family and its other members, as well as of society as a whole.

5. For most couples in America, the process of forming a new family begins with romantic love, which becomes the basis of marriage. In America, there is the highest level of marriages among industrial countries, but the average age of first-time marriages usually varies depending on social and economic factors. The rules of endogamy and exogamy limit the choice of partner for each member of society. Factors such as religion, race, social class and level of education determine the group within which the individual prefers to seek a life partner.

6. In the US - the highest level of divorce in the world. It gradually increased from the middle of the XIX century.and especially increased sharply after the Second World War and from 1965 to 1970. Especially deep influence on the divorce rate had economic factors. Strengthening women's independence was also likely to increase the number of couples who consider divorce a solution to the problems that arise in married life.

7. Among the social changes that affect the American family, it should be noted the increase in the number of families where both spouses work. Stressful situations that arise when people try to simultaneously cope with conflicting responsibilities at home and at work are called the dilemma of congestion and identity dilemma. Although the employment of both spouses outside the home is becoming more widespread, the division of labor( including homework) by sex has firmly taken root in the lives of Americans.

8. As a result of the divorce, both parents and children experience a deep shock and feel anxiety, irritation and loneliness. In connection with the increase in the number of divorces, many families with one parent were formed, mostly headed by women. Both for divorced women and for mothers who never married, the most acute, apparently, are economic problems. Another problem is that lonely people often feel humiliated in a society where marriage is highly valued.

10. Two other alternatives to the traditional family - a joint life without entering into marital relations and life in the commune. Most couples who do not register a marriage do not have children. Such partners have less legal rights in case of a gap than married couples. The tendency to create communes first arose in the 1960s as a form of protest against the existing social order. In the future, communes were created more from practical considerations, for example, with the aim of economic cooperation. Some researchers find a great similarity between communes and extended families from the lower and working classes.

10. The new field of science, called "family policy", is brought to life mainly by changes in the institution of the family, which are viewed as social problems. Unlike many other countries in the US, there is no clearly defined family policy. Among the policy measures affecting the position of the family, it should be noted the introduction of income tax to help children, providing assistance to families with children who are dependent on parents, measures to provide families with children with low-cost apartments and providing them with special services.

11. There seems to be no renaissance of the traditional family, although there are no signs of a complete destruction of the family. However, the process of disintegration of the surviving functions of the family will continue.