Реферат: Changes In Women And Marriage Essay Research
careers took relative precedence over marriage during the period of
their lives when their ?less achievement – oriented peers were opting
for marriage? (Allen & Kalish, p. 141). Women now in the labor market
want more than just a ?job?, and therefore, actively pursue a
?career?. Between 1969 and 1979, for example, percentages of women
endorsing wanting to be ?an authority in my field? increased from
54.3% to 70.5% and in 1979 were only 4.8% lower than the percentage
for men. Women endorsing wanting ?to raise a family? declined in these
years from 77.8% to64.8% which equals the percentage for men. (Long,
1983).
Becker?s (1981) theories of marriage and family behavior
hypothesize that women?s increasing labor force participation has had
a critical and presumably irreversible impact on the family. If half
of all marriages are to fail, and with alimony for ex-wives less
common, a woman cannot count upon marriage for a lifetime of economic
security (Allen & Kalish). Men?s economic status has substantially
deteriorated since the 1970?s (Oppenheimer, 1994). The median income
of men aged 25 to 34 fell by 26% between 1972 and 1994 (Koontz, 1997).
The institution of marriage underwent a particularly rebellious and
dramatic shift when women entered the work force. ?People don?t have
to stay married because of economic forces now . . . we are in the
midst of trying to renegotiate what the marriage contracts is – what
men and women are suppose to do as partners? (Gleick, 1995). Studies
show the lowest marriage rate of all is for women professionals (i.e.,
doctors, lawyers). While over three-fourths of all women in the United
States aged 35 to 39 are married, fewer than two thirds of these
are professional women. Further, when they do marry, professional
women are more likely to divorce than their age peers. As for
childbearing, these women have significantly fewer children than their