Sociology and the Family: Marriage, Divorce and Defacto Partnering

The family is a remarkably significant social unit. It is defined a group of individuals, related by blood, marriage, adoption or cohabitation (AIFS, 2001). In all known societies the family has the function of regulating sexual behaviour and reproduction, of socialization, of protecting children and the elderly, and of providing its members with emotional support, health and well being (Edgar et al., 1993).

Over the last few decades, family formation patterns have changed considerably. Contemporary family sociology has identified that family practices, too, are also changing rapidly. Massive demographic change has signaled significant changes in family-form with family-households now being considerably smaller in size. Moreover, there is evidence that the norms governing family life are also undergoing change, from being primarily obligational to negotiational. Changes in family networks and changes in the norms governing family life have considerable implications for the Australian family as a unit.

Over the last 20 years the marriage rate has begun to decline.

Edgar Neo at kick off Nieuwe Garde Rotterdam 22 ap...

English: ABS House which is the headquarters for t...

Australian Bureau of Statistics

The number of registered marriages or weddings per thousand population gauges this trend. In 1998, the crude marriage rate was 5.9 marriages per thousand population (ABS, 2000). The marriage rate decline can be attributed mainly to changes in attitudes to marriage and living arrangements. Two prominent contributing factors are that young people are staying in education systems for longer periods of time and the increasing incidence of de facto relationships and social acceptance of these relationships.

These aforementioned causes - prolonged education and increasing numbers of de facto relationships - have also influenced the median age of first marriage. In the Family trends table a noticeable rise in age can be noted, from a calculated average of 22.2 years in the early 1970s to 27 in the late 1990s, attributed to society's change in attitude regarding these issues.

De facto couples are...