Marriage and the way we view it today, differs greatly from the past. We no longer have to be married to be a family. Our views and opinions on marriage and its meaning have changed considerably. Marriage isn't necessarily less valued, it's just viewed differently.

The fact that the divorce rate has doubled in the last twenty years could lead us to believe that marriage isn't important to us anymore. Instead of persevering and working at married life, people are more frequently choosing to end their relationships. However, these divorced couples seem to be merely opting out of poor quality relationships to look for something better. In the past divorce was frowned upon, we were expected to carry on regardless of whether we were happy or not. Until 1949, there was no financial help available for divorce cases. Making the process easier and cheaper has given people the opportunity to leave 'empty shell' marriages behind. For example in 1991, 75% of women and 80% of men divorced before the age of 35 were remarried wi

Less than half of today's weddings are a traditional religious ceremony. A civil ceremony is a popular option. This sort of wedding can be held anywhere and involve almost anything. Some will view this as trivialising marriage, rewriting vows and choosing bizarre locations for the ceremony. However the couples involved must be taking things pretty seriously to go to such lengths. After all, it's their day and they're personalising things because it is so special to them. With church membership and attendance down we see an increasing number of couples doing things their own way. This is down to attitudes and beliefs changing and with it the idea of what marriage is about.

Some common words found in the essay are:
, idea marriage, marriage isn't, marriage valued, Sociology Focus, quality relationships, choose cohabit, we're expected, married life,
Approximate Word count = 731
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)