The Economics of Marriage

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that today contemporary women and men are choosing to organize their lives and homes in non-traditional ways. They tailor family life to suit their own lifestyles. This explains why ideas about marriage have changed so drastically over time. The paper explains that formerly the need for mutual support, clear division of labor and the separation of tasks into public and domestic spheres necessitated a regime in which tradition and law governed much of human activity. Today, however, the new economy has changed this and promises to continue changing it, our world and ourselves.

From the Paper:

"Marriage is a fundamental part of life - or so it has always been in Western Culture, and in virtually all other cultures around the world. So important is the institution, that we celebrate its beginning with elaborate ceremonies, enshrine its boundaries in law, and build our families on its foundations. But today, things are not always as they have been in the past. Many people live together and do not get married. Marriage law has been changed dramatically in regard to property rights and ease of divorce. Not only unmarried couples, but single mothers and father, and gay and lesbian couples, too, start families and raise children. The old definition of family - a married man and woman, and their children, appears to be giving way to new ideas. More and more, contemporary women and men are choosing to organize their lives and homes in non-traditional ways; tailoring family life to suit their own lifestyles. Numerous experts see these changes as reflections of present-day conditions. Marriage, they say, is essentially an economic institution. It developed over time as a means of guaranteeing the economic survival and well-being of its members. These same experts point to today's different economic picture as the primary reason that marriage has changed so considerably. Economics, too, explain why many contemporary men and women choose not to get married. But, if the basis of marriage was, and is, economic, was it that has so changed so drastically as to alter, almost beyond recognition, traditional notions of marriage?"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Farrell, Betty G. Family: The Making of an Idea, an Institution, and a Controversy in American Culture. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
• Mack, Dana, and Andrea Duflon. How our Culture Undermines the Family How our Culture Undermines the Family. San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books, 1997.
• Miller, Naomi. Single Parents by Choice: A Growing Trend in Family Life. New York: Insight Books, 1992.
• Shapiro, Warren. "Ideology, 'History of Religions' and Hunter-Gatherer Studies." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 4.3 (1998): 489+.

More papers on The Economics of Marriage:

• Analytical Essay # 112845 : "The Making of Marriage - 1500-1800"
• Analytical Essay # 143346 : "Nothing But: The Economics Of Intimate Life And K Strategy"
• Book Review # 128016 : "Marriage in "The Taming of the Shrew"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: