Revolution of Marriage

Marriage has taken a drastic turn throughout the past years; there have been new laws, regulations, and new marriages all together in these years. Race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and class, all play a role in the cycle of marriage. With the new changes that have happened within marriages, those new developments have been looked at the most when a couple is going to gets married. One can possibly learn new facts and gain more knowledge about the new revolution marriage has taken after reading this essay.

Earlier in the years, marriage occurred more commonly between people of the same race and ethnicity; it was unusual when marriage would occur between different races. Such marriages caused controversies, and were not accepted as well as those that occurred between the same races. The “marriages between African Americans and whites increased rapidly between 1980 and 2008, outpacing the rate of unions between whites and other ethnic and racial groups, including Latinos, Asian Americans and American Indians” (Qian). When such marriages would take place, people would ask themselves how is it that their parents allowed this to happen.

There has been, however, a decline in marriages. What is causing such a decline? Well for one, there are a few reasons to this decline; “this decline is a central characteristic of recent levels of divorce, nonmarital childbearing, and cohabitation” (Bumpass): many couples are no longer getting married, they form a family but do not officially get married. It has become increasingly common since the 1980s, and especially in the 21st century.

21st century marriages are merely different than what they were in the 80s; now there is more to take into consideration when one is getting marri...

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...cause both are working, splitting the bills is an option. Women look for more than money in men.

Shockingly enough, “in 1960, 72% of all adults ages 18 and older were married, today just 51% are (Cohn, et. Al). Nearly 21 percent are not getting married, many are simply moving in together, and starting their family without getting married. In 2013, these marriages began to change not only in the number of those not getting married, but because same sex marriage began to occur. Everything that occurs within a marriage is influence by race, class, ethnicity, and those older than one.

Marriage has taken drastic turns year after year, and will most likely continue to change as time passes. There will be new laws passed, and because the outlooks of your significant other are no longer the same one as they were in the 80s the percentage of married couple will decrease.