Is There a Connection Between More Independent Women and Marriage and Divorce Statistics?



Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009

by Andrew Marhall

In recent times the number of people getting married has fallen significantly, while the number of divorces have been going up. Another trend that has been happening at the same time is that women are becoming more independent. So is there a connection between these two trends.

There was a time when the typical family consisted of a man going out to work, while his wife would stay at home as a housewife and look after the children. There has been a large shift away from this over the past half a century. In the United Kingdom this started to a certain extent during and after the Second World War. With many working men fighting during the war, it was necessary for women to step in and perform jobs traditionally done by men, such as working in factories. Many women enjoyed working, and wanted to carry on after the war was finished. This lead to many more women in the work place, and this trend has continued ever since.

Women have a much more important role in the work place these days than ever before. Whereas once upon a time men were dominant within many industries, women are now equally represented in most working environment. Statistics show that girls tend to get better qualifications than boys, and this can obviously lead to them getting better jobs, and earning more money. So financially women are almost just as likely to be receiving a high salary as men. I say "almost" as likely because statistics show that there are still more men than women in the highest paid jobs in business. However, on average women earn a lot more than they ever have before. This means that women are much more likely to be able to support themselves than fifty years ago. Many can get by fine without having to get married, and if they are married and are getting divorced it may not be such a financial burden.

Part of this is connected to the whole way society has changed. Going back over history in many ways women were treated as second class citizens, but this is no longer the case. Early in the twentieth century women weren't even allowed to vote. They were unable to vote in Britain until 1917, when women over 30 were granted this right. It wasn't until another eleven years later, in 1928 when they were given the same voting rights as men. Women in most other countries weren't allowed to vote until around this time either, with some countries much later.

There was a time when getting married was just what you did. It was almost automatic that everyone wanted to get married. These days many women choose not to. They do not feel forced to, and this is part of the overall independence that women feel they have these days.

Many of these trends also apply to divorce. It is not considered such as issue for women to get divorced and be single again. Divorce is not looked down upon by society like it once was. Being a divorced woman no longer has the negative tag it once did.

Andrew Marshall

Family Law Solicitors

Divorce Lawyers London

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