CHFD 340 Assignment 2 Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay
Marriage in the 21st Century
This assignment will help you gain a better understanding of the institution of marriage and its significance today. Marriage is something that every society has. As you are learning, marriage has its advantages and also its challenges. The concept of marriage continually changes as our society changes.
Your paper will need to cover what you have learned about marriage in the 21st century. Please clearly cover:
How marriage rates have changed and why.
The difficulties associated with transitioning into married life.
The challenges of marriage in our society today.
The privileges/benefits of marriage.
How choices have changed when it comes to the type of marriages that couples might enter into.
How changes in the ethnic makeup of our society has affected marriages (i.e. interracial, interfaith marriages)
Challenges and privileges you have experienced/or anticipate in the future in reference to your marriage. If you are not married you can discuss the marriage of your parents or others close to you. Please do not share any information that you feel is too personal (If you aren't comfortable discussing your own situation you can discuss the marriage of someone you know.).
Anything else that you have learned from this assignment and a conclusion.
Your paper should be written in APA format with factual information to support your thoughts and ideas (the lesson material should be your main source and at least 1 other academic source). You need at least a 3-page paper in a Word doc. This does not include your title page or your reference page. Your paper will automatically be submitted to turnitin.com. You and your instructor will receive the results. The rubric (below) is what I'll use to grade your paper:
Required elements
Possible points
Student points
The writer covers the topic of marriage rates and its changes
How choices have changed when it comes to the type of marriages that couples might enter into
How changes in the ethnic makeup of our society has affected marriages (i.e. interracial, interfaith marriages)
30
A discussion of the challenges of marriage today
The difficulties associated with transitioning into married life.
The privileges/benefits of marriage
30
Challenges and privileges you have experienced/or anticipate in the future in reference to your marriage. If you are not married, you can discuss the marriage of your parents or others close to you.
20
Writing Structure is clear and follows spelling, grammar and punctuation rules.
Meets length requirement
An introduction and summary are included
10
References (lesson material and at least 1 other academic source) are included and follow APA formatting style.
10
Total
100
Institutional Affiliation
CHFD 340 Assignment 2
Marriage plays a significant role in life as one of the central aspects of an adult life’s organization. Despite demographic shifts, marriage enhances social organization for individuals, families, and even in society. Considerably, marriage is a socially sanctioned institution rather than a free-standing concept. In most communities, matrimony embraces predictable, legal, and traditional virtuous assumptions concerning acceptable behaviors (Talalyan, 2020). Despite recognizing the social role of marriage in society, a dramatic increase in divorce rate and premarital cohabitation has resulted in significant traditional family structure changes. Therefore, the marriage institution, the backbone of society, is under intense threat. Although marriage was central to adult life, fewer people choose to get married in the 21st century based on demographic trends and increased divorce rates.
The onset of the 21st century has resulted in dramatic changes in the marriage institution. For instance, cohabitation has emerged as an alternative to marriage. Notably, the trend of couples living together before getting married has normalized cohabitation. In most instances, lovers cohabit for financial reasons and sexual convenience (Malek, 2016). Although most people perceive that cohabitation will reinforce their marriage in the future, the couples who cohabit prior to marriage have higher divorce rates. Equally, cohabitating lovers are less committed to a relationship with the likelihood of dissolving their union more readily. In the contemporary world, more people have accepted cohabitation as an alternative to marriage.
Besides, the divorce rate in marriage has increased tremendously, despite the marriage being a life-long commitment. If divorced couples remarry, the marriage is likely to be less stable and results in divorce. Normalization and individualization are factors that have contributed to an increased rate of divorce in society. In the 21st century, most communities have perceived divorce as an acceptable trend, while individualization makes it easier to dissolve unions. Most individuals deem happiness as more important, thus the efforts of preserving marriage being of less value. Notably, infidelity in monogamous relationships has become a widespread occurrence. Peer groups, individual characteristics, and the media are vital contributing factors to committing adultery. The normalization of infidelity has resulted in the prominence of divorce culture in society.
Considerably, working women have changed marriage structure resulting from changing gender roles within the family setting. Currently, women are empowered in the workforce and their roles and working hours have increased demand. Equally, a decline in women’s traditional gender roles as family caretakers has had ambivalent results in the workforce. For instance, an increase in the division of household responsibilities for couples affects the quality of marriage. However, more women joining the crew has resulted in inequality of decision-making power and more financial stability within the family setting. Despite the economic benefits of labor division, increased pressures for wives have negative impacts on families. In such cases, couples have less time for interaction, causing low marital quality and marriage dissolution.
Marriage has changed in the contemporary world based on the aspect of having children. In the modern world, the family structure has encountered significant transformations due to less value raising children in a nuclear family (Raley & Sweeney, 2020). Since most women are empowered, they bring up children solely as single mothers. In most societies, parents raise children in mixed families with step-siblings or in settings that they decide to cohabit rather than getting married. The increased pessimism towards marriage threatens marriage stability. Education is a key determinant factor of success in relationships and marriage alike. Notably, educated individuals have more effective communication skills in addressing problems within the family setting. Education provides family and individual characteristics that enhance marriage stability and happiness.
Changes in Marriage Rates in the 21st century
The marriage institution has encountered significant changes in the 21st century based on several factors. Although marriage was an esteemed institution historically, the onset of the 21st century has resulted in substantial transformations. Intimacy in marriage is one of the significant aspects of radical change in contemporary Western societies. According to Esping-Andersen (2016), modernization and globalization have resulted in rising confluent love among couples. The contingent nature of relationships results in psychological insecurity that breeds psychological insecurity in marriage. Just as aforementioned, people have more autonomy in choosing not to marry and get married. Since women have joined the workforce, most of them prefer raising children as single mothers, thus caus...