Реферат: Changes In Women And Marriage Essay Research

proportion of women rejecting marriage. We all know the statistics –

half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce and nearly a

third of all children are born out of wedlock. As a result four out of

10 kids don?t live with both of their biological parents (Chollar,

1993). Delayed marriage and continued high divorce levels will combine

to shrink the share of currently married men and women in most age

groups. In the 21st century, men will remain more married than women

because of the surplus of adult women in all but the under age 25

group (McLaughlin). Gottman found that a major complaint of divorced

women was that their ex-husband?s had the majority of power. Moreover,

it is still overwhelming women, not men, who are called upon to

adjust their work lives to the demands of child rearing by quitting

their jobs, working part-time or choosing a flexible job over one that

offers higher pay (Cherlin, 1990). Women are also showing less

patience with problem marriages as growing numbers unravel the

marriage bond with divorce.

The decline in the ideal of marital permanence – one of the

most well documented value changes among Americans in recent decades –

also has tended to make persons less willing and able to make the

needed commitments to and investments in marriage (Gleick, 1993, p.

28). While entering into marriage with the ?utmost care and deepest

consideration can only be to the good, it may be marriage itself –

along with the most basic institutions like the work place – that

continues to need refining? (Gleick, p. 28). Today?s women, all too

aware of the current divorce numbers, may be hesitant to enter into

marriage.

I would say we?re in a stalled revolution . . . women have

gone into the labor force, but not much else has changed to adapt to

that new situation. We have not rewired the notion of manhood so that