Marriage From the Economic Viewpoint - Essay Example

At the same time the sociological factors for divorce, single parents, and even lesbian and gay marriages have entered into the equation, further increasing choices and complicating matters. When the marriage roles were highly specialized, it gave more power to both man and wife. However, the dilution of these roles was necessitated by changing economic circumstances and uncertainty, which led to the evolution of dual-income families and its negative impact on family life. Opportunities for women had expanded by the end of the war since some of them had trained to take over male-dominated jobs in factories, shops, and other establishments.

Social acceptance of cohabitation, sex outside marriage, and divorce had impacted the role of the family. From a high point in the 1960s, marriage had plummeted to lower rates in the 1970s but steadied somewhat since the 1980s (Blau, Ferber & Winkler, 277). Today people prefer to cohabit with or without marriage or children. Recent trends indicate that the median age of marriage has also gone up since people defer getting married till they are well settled individually. There is a marked decline in the space between first and second marriages for the lower segments of the population.

While black women are lifting themselves up through education, black males are still falling victim to crime, and criminal activities and blame them perhaps erroneously on the lack of opportunities for blacks. When it comes to divorce, the specialization of labor roles and opportunities for increasing incomes to become self-supporting has been seen as a reason to walk out of an unhappy marriage. Lack of support in the home and sudden loss of jobs impacting incomes have also been factors for increasing rates of divorce.

The trend is that divorce has shown an increasing trend from the 1960s to the 1980s, then steadied somewhat and declined to 3.6 per 1000 couples in 2006 (Blau et al, 280). As regards cohabitation, while this was taboo and frowned upon in the 1960s, it has become commonly accepted today. Research suggests that it is a prelude to marriage in the USA, with as much as 50 percent of cohabiting couples deciding to get married eventually. Recent trends suggest that young couples today are more inclined to experiment with cohabitation for the short or long term as a prelude to marriage.

As regards the comparatively recent trend of same-sex marriages and cohabitation, this relationship is not without its problems, as the separation of gender roles is less pronounced and one person may be not willing to step into a defined role for the long term for the mutual benefit of both. When it comes to the question of fertility, the important factor is not only biological, as it does impact the cost of raising a family, juggling responsibilities, career sacrifices, work-life balance, and the quality of children raised.

The legalization of abortion, social acceptance of cohabitation with or without children, and even rules for child support have affected the decision to have children. Dual-income families have a number of advantages over single-parent families, including the full development of the children resulting from the relationship. In Chapter 11 of the book, the authors discuss policies affecting paid employment and the family. The discussion starts off with the former US Welfare program entitled AFDC or Aid to Families of Dependent Children began in the 1960s.