Source A According to the Office for National Statistics, in 1971 there were around 74,000 divorces in England and Wales. By 2019, there had been over 100,0...

(a) The divorce rate is the number of divorces per thousand married couples in a population within a given year. [1] It serves as a standard measure of marital stability in a society, allowing comparisons over time and between different countries. [1]

(b) One legal change is the Divorce Reform Act 1969 in England and Wales, which introduced 'irretrievable breakdown of marriage' as the sole ground for divorce. [1] This removed the previous requirement to prove specific fault such as adultery or cruelty, making divorce accessible to couples who were simply unhappy. [1]

A second legal change is the equalisation of divorce rights between men and women, ensuring that either partner could petition for divorce on the same grounds. [1] This removed the earlier legal inequality that had made it more difficult for women to initiate divorce proceedings. [1]

(c) Secularisation refers to the declining influence of religion on social life and individual behaviour. Its effects on family life are wide-ranging:

1. As religious institutions have lost authority in modern industrial societies, fewer people feel bound by the teaching that marriage is a sacred, lifelong commitment. [1] This has made divorce more socially acceptable, since people no longer fear the religious stigma or spiritual consequences once associated with ending a marriage. [1]
2. Secularisation has contributed to the decline in church weddings, with more couples opting for civil ceremonies or choosing to cohabit without any formal ceremony at all. [1]
3. The weakening of religious norms has also changed attitudes towards pre-marital sex, contraception and same-sex relationships, [1] all of which have diversified the range of socially acceptable relationships and household arrangements.
4. Without religious authority reinforcing the sanctity of marriage, people increasingly base their relationship decisions on personal satisfaction rather than moral obligation. [1] This represents a shift from marriage as a duty to marriage as a choice, with exit available when satisfaction declines. [1]

(d) The source shows a dramatic rise in divorces from around 74,000 in 1971 to over 100,000 per year by 2019. [1] Fletcher's argument, cited in the source, offers an important interpretation: rising divorce rates reflect higher expectations of marriage rather than worse marriages. [1] From the source, people now expect romantic love, companionship, emotional fulfilment and personal growth from marriage, and are unwilling to remain in relationships that fall short of these expectations. [1]

Drawing on wider knowledge, legal changes have played a crucial role in enabling divorce by making it cheaper, quicker and procedurally simpler. [1] The feminist movement has empowered women to leave unhappy or oppressive marriages, since women now have greater financial independence through workforce participation. [1] Secularisation has reduced the moral stigma attached to divorce, so that divorced people are no longer treated as social outcasts by their communities. [1] Broader attitudinal shifts mean that staying in an unhappy marriage 'for the sake of the children' is now often seen as potentially more damaging than a managed separation. [1] The availability of welfare state support for single parents has also made it financially viable for people to leave marriages without facing destitution. [1]

(e) This question asks whether the increase in divorce has damaged family life or whether it represents a positive social development.

Arguments that rising divorce has had a negative impact:

• New Right perspective: Murray (1990) argued that divorce produces single-parent families, which he linked to poverty, educational underachievement and anti-social behaviour among children.
• Emotional harm to children: Wallerstein (2000) found that some children experienced negative psychological effects from their parents' divorce well into adulthood, including difficulties with trust, intimacy and their own relationships.
• Financial consequences: Divorce often leads to a drop in living standards, particularly for women, who may lose access to the household's primary income.
• Complexity of reconstituted families: The growth of stepfamilies after divorce introduces new relational challenges, including tensions between step-parents and stepchildren and conflicts over loyalties.

Arguments that rising divorce is not necessarily negative:

• Higher expectations: Fletcher (1966) argued that rising divorce reflects people's determination to find genuinely satisfying relationships, which is a sign of the increased value placed on marriage rather than its decline.
• Escape from harm: Divorce can be a positive outcome when it ends an unhappy, abusive or destructive relationship. Remaining in a conflict-ridden household can be more damaging to all family members, including children, than a carefully managed separation.
• Women's liberation: Feminists argue that easier divorce has been particularly liberating for women, who historically had to endure patriarchal and sometimes violent marriages because they had no legal or economic means to leave.
• Serial monogamy: Postmodern sociologists suggest that having successive committed relationships is simply a new pattern of family life rather than evidence of family breakdown.

Conclusion: The impact of rising divorce on family life is complex and contested. While there are genuine concerns about the emotional and financial consequences for children and former spouses, divorce has also freed individuals from unhappy and abusive relationships. The negative effects attributed to divorce are often more accurately linked to poverty and inequality than to the act of ending a marriage itself. [15]