Chapter 7: Marriage and Family
Introduction to Marriage and Family
Zygmunt Bauman (2003) has argued that in late modernity, institutions, including marriage, have become increasingly fluid: uncertain, insecure, impermanent. In one’s life one might expect to go through a number of career changes, a number of identities, as well as a number of intimate partners. Love and intimacy are anchors in an unpredictable and unfixed world, but they can also be fleeting and untrustworthy. To commit to another in marriage involves a gamble that the other, (and oneself), will remain committed to the relationship through time. Among other things, long term commitment closes the door on other romantic possibilities, which could prove more satisfying and fulfilling.
As Bauman puts it,
Interpersonal relationships with all their accompaniments – love, partnerships, commitments, mutually recognized rights and duties – are simultaneously objects of attraction and apprehension, desire and fear; sites of two-mindedness and hesitation, soul-searching, anxiety (Bauman, 2004).
Does this mean that the family is in crisis or decline?
Statistics Canada (2019a) reports that the number of unmarried, common-law couples grew by 3 times between 1981 and 2016, to make up a total of 21.3% of all couples in Canada. This is much higher than in the United States where only 5.9% of couples cohabited outside of marriage in 2010, but about the same as the UK (20% in 2015) and lower than Sweden (29% in 2010). In Quebec, 39.9% of couples lived common law, whereas in Nunavut the figure was 50.3%.
While more married couples than ever reported having lived common-law before getting married in 2016 (39%), some common-law couples may never choose to wed (Statistics Canada, 2019b). The most common type of household in 2016 was in fact one-person households or singles (28.2%). With fewer couples marrying, the traditional Canadian family structure is becoming less common. Nevertheless, although the percentage of traditional married couples has declined as a proportion of all families, 56% of all people aged 25–64 were officially married in 2016, (compared to 15% living common law, 13% never married or lived common law, 6 per cent divorced, 8 per cent separated from common-law partner, and 1 per cent widowed). For people aged 25-64, marriage is still by far the predominant living arrangement in Canada.
Additional Resources
I Do (Not): Marriage and Family in the 21st Century by The Sociology Breakdown
In this episode of The Social Breakdown, the hosts discuss both family and marriage. They discuss how sociologists explain family as a tool of socialization and cover changes in marriage over time.
Sociology Ruins Marriage by Matt Sedler
In this episode of Sociology Ruins Everything, Matt Sedlar hosts a roundtable discussion on marriage, including its origins and meaning today.
Section Summary
7.1 What is Marriage? What is a Family?
Sociologists view marriage and families as societal institutions that help create the basic unit of social structure. Both marriage and a family may be defined differently — and practiced differently — in cultures across the world. Families and marriages, like other institutions, adapt to social change.
7.2 Variations in Family Life
Canadians’ concepts of marriage and family are changing. Increases in cohabitation, same-sex partners, and singlehood are altering ideas of marriage. Similarly, single parents, same-sex parents, cohabitating parents, and stepparents are changing notions of what it means to be a family. While many children still live in opposite-sex, two-parent, married households, these are no longer viewed as the only or dominant type of family.
7.3 Theoretical Perspectives on Marriage and the Family
Sociologists have different perspectives on marriage and the family. Functionalists consider the family to be an integral social institution where each member has an important role in maintaining the stability of the family. Conflict theorists are interested in the economic and power relationships that exist within families and their relationship to broader society. Meanwhile, symbolic interactionists consider how socially constructed family roles or norms are defined and change over time.
7.4 Challenges Families Face
Families face a variety of challenges, including divorce, violence, and child abuse. While divorce rates have decreased in the last 25 years, many family members, especially children, still experience the negative effects of divorce. Children are also negatively impacted by violence and abuse within the home with thousands victimized by family violence each year.
Media Attributions
- Family Making Breakfast © August d Richelieu used under license via Pexels
