The State of Our Unions

Response

The institution of marriage has been changing over the years, both in its

shape, frequency of marriages and the factors that influence it. This is one of the

many conclusions reached by the authors David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe

Whitehead in their article “The State of Our Unions”. Published back in 2005, the

article talks about the changing trends of marriage in the United States over the

decades, mainly comparing nowadays with the days of 1960s. The purpose

behind their article is to educate the readers, mainly couples, married partners,

legislators and journalists on the reality of the marriage institution today in the

light of new evidence presented in the article. They also aim to study the

influence of the economy and the finances on marriage relationships, and what

can possibly be the most suitable division of roles between the two partners. In

support of their argument, the authors provide a range of statistics, numbers and

figures presented in the form of tables and quotations in their article, mostly from

the U.S Census Bureau.

All throughout the article, the authors stress the importance of noticing the

changes in marriage trends and levels over the years According to them, there

are social and economic reasons for this change, since one hand women are

being more and more involved in the workforce, while on the other hand men are

spending more and more years preparing themselves to be secure enough for

marriage. Ultimately it is the finances and the changes in relationship styles

(such as the rise in cohabitation) which have had the great impact on the
changes in the marriage institution today. Among the conclusions of the authors

is that around 60% of women today say that they are happy in their marriage,

compared to 68.2% in the 1970s. (Popenoe & Whitehead, 2005). Apart from

marriage, the authors also tackle the topic of divorce, noting the changes which it

witnesses, concluding that the divorce rate today is nearly as twice as it was 40

years ago. Finally, unmarried cohabitations are discussed in the article, with the

authors arguing that the available evidence suggests such relationships do not

necessarily lead to successful marriages.

Personally, I agree with the authors’ view about marriage, divorce and

unmarried cohabitation. This is because the social and economic factors which

influence marriage and divorce decisions, such as work circumstances, traditions

and the demands of life have all been changing over the past decades. This in

turn will definitely lead to a change in marriage decisions, mainly delaying them.

As the article “Paradise Lost” puts it: “the rules changed, and the goal posts were

moved” (2006, p.2) which means that as the circumstances in the society and the

needs of the partners changed, more women decided to advance their careers

and academic backgrounds instead of spending time on housework. Indeed,

experiences from married and divorced women who spent their marriage life

doing housework are considered irrelevant in today’s society, since work and

career advancement have become a source of fulfillment for many women. Also,

as far as divorce is concerned, individuals are putting more value on their own

achievements and their relationship with work and their coworkers more than
their relationships with their official partners, which is making divorce become

more frequent and less shameful.