Marriage and Cohabitation

Chapter 8

Features of Marriage

• How does the label of “married” carry a tremendous amount of power and symbolic and legal meaning

• In society?• To individuals?• In families?• At work?• As a rite of passage?

Diversity, Inequality and Social Change• Diversity

• About _____ of people cohabitate before marriage• Same gender marriage is more common and accepted than ever before• Divorce and remarriage are common and accepted

• Inequality• Educational and Social Class homogamy is common• Married couples are less likely to be poor than singles• Same sex couples are not granted rights in all states

• Social Change• The growth if individualism has weakened ties of marriage• Family structures are increasingly more complex and connected to identity

• Author’s note about gay and lesbian relationships and marriage…

• Not enough data• Rapid recent changes

Who Gets Married?

• Marriage rates have fallen dramatically since the 1960’s• ..yet is still extremely common• Less of our adult lives are spent in marriage• The “De-institutionalization of Marriage

• Marriage is increasingly concentrated among those with higher education and income• While those with higher income could make it on their own they are more

likely to get married…Why?

Why do Most people get Married Eventually?

Why do Most people get Married Eventually?• Incentives

• Social Pressure

• Imitation

Who Marries Whom?

• Exchange Theory and the Marriage Market

• Marriage is Voluntary

• There is competition for spouses

• People use their “assets” to bargain for the best deal on the market. Oftentimes, people with higher status in one respect, exchange that status with a partner who has a higher status in another category.• Examples…problems with this theory?

Endogamy and the Marriage Market

•Race and Ethnicity

•Education

•Religion

Why Cohabitate?

• Why cohabitate?

Cohabitation

•Before Marriage

• Instead of Marriage

•After Marriage

The Benefits of Marriage• Happiness

• Religion

• Health and Wealth

• Responsibility

• Cooperation

• Status

Weddings

• The wedding Industrial Complex