Diversity in Families Maxine Baca Zinn D. Stanley Eitzen

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Diversity in Families Maxine Baca Zinn D.
Stanley Eitzen

• Chapter Eight
• Contemporary Marriages

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Chapter Eight Overview

• Marriage Private and Public Spheres
• Recent Trends
• Are There Benefits to Marriage?
• Micro Aspects of Marriage

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Marriage Private and Public Spheres

• Marriage creates a unique relationship in
  profound and complex ways.
• Marriage is a dynamic rather than a concrete
  entity.

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Macro Influences on Marriage

• The Law
• The Issue of Homosexual Marriages
• Religion
• Societal Gender Expectations

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Recent Trends

• Unmarried Adults The number of singles and
  cohabiting heterosexuals is increasing.
• Unmarriednever m, widowed, divorced
• Living alone1/4 of all households
• Co-habitation

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Cohabitation-reasons

• 1. Same sex partners-marriage prohibited
• 2. Financial
• sharing expenses
• not-econ stable for marriage
• 3. Prelude to marriage
• 4. Older coupleslose econ benefits
• Soc security, widow status, estate

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Cohabitation-statistics

• 20004.9 millionopp.sexco-habitation
• 1980---1.6 million
• 1969---523,000
• ____________
• 41--include a child under 18
• ½--first marriages preceded by cohabitat.
• Most marry or split within 18 months
• ½ cohabitating couples marry
• Somewhat higher divorce rate than never cohab.
• 40 of all children will spend time with mother
• cohabitating partner

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• 2. Age at First Marriage The median age of
  first marriage is increasing for women and men.
• 90 eventually marry
• Median age of first marriage
• men
  women
• 1900 26
  22
• 1960 22.8
  20.3
• 26.8 25.1
• Effect advanced educ, reduces child., indep
  and
• flexibilitylife choices.

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• 3. Family Size The fertility rate has declined
  steadily throughout most of the last 200 years.
• average household 2.6 persons
• 3.1 thirty
  yrs ago
• 2002
• white 2.4
• black 2.7
• native amer 2.8
• asian amer 2.9
• latino 3.5

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Recent Trends

• Racial Mixed Marriages Interracial and
  interethnic marriages are increasing, but 95 of
  all marriages are between partners of the same
  race. (homogamy)
• Life Span and Marriage Increased longevity is
  one explanation for the relatively high rate of
  divorce.

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Recent Trends

• Divorce Stabilized in the late 1990s at around
  4.2 couples divorcing per 1000.
• Remarriage Most divorced persons remarry.

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• Remarriage
• men75
• women60
• Tendencymajority soon after divorce
• ½ within 3 years.
• less likely for older women

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The Benefits of Marriage

• Research shows that marriage benefits the
  partners involved in several ways
• 1) Better physical and mental health
• 2) Better sex lives
• 3) More economic resources

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Health benefits

• Causes
• malesless risky behavior
• monitored by spouse
• wife assists in dealing with stress
• sense of meaning, obligation,
• responsibility to others
• improved mental healthless depre,
• 
  anxiety

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2. Better sex lives

• More often--comparative frequency
• Enjoy it morephysically emotionally

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3. More economic resources

• 1. Increased productivity of men
• 2. economic contribution of women
• Effect better nutrition, housing, travel
• May be that econ benefits
• Instead of marriage bond that generates
• better emotional physical health

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The Benefits of Marriage Reconsidered

• The benefits of marriage change when race, class,
  and gender are factored in
• 1) The poor do not necessarily benefit
  economically from marriage.
• less marriage-where jobs unstable,
  low-w
• women not interested in marriage
• 2) This is especially true for racial
  minorities.
• 3) Many times, there is a his and hers
  marriage.
• Men benefit more from marr.--receive more
  care
• regardless of emotional
  quality
• Women benefitsdepend on quality

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Marital Success Stability Quality

• Cuber and Haroffstability not same as
  satisfaction
• Study of affluent couplessimilar
• 5 types of stable/enduring marriages
• a. Conflict-habituated-centered on tension
• quarreling, nagging, sarcasm, put-down
• b. Devitalized duty
• c. Passive congeniallove not expected
• stability allowed other pursuits
• d. Vital marriagestrue intimacy in all import.
• matters
• e. Totalmore multi-facetedinvolved in work

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Marital Success Quality

• Factors that influence marriage quality
• 1) Shared social characteristics-homogamouswhy?
  shared values, politics, religion
• 2) Economic and personal resourcessuccess can
  hold a marriage together.
• 3) Dual-earner couples
• positivefinancial negative--conflicts

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• 4) The division of household labor
• women spend twice as much time
• 2/3 to 1/3 relationship of housework
• less women, more men 1960
• men increase housework when
• 1. higher male education
• 2. wives jobs -similar or higher p

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Marital Success

• Factors that influence marriage quality
• 5) Role fitconsensus
• traditional/egalitarian
• 6) Social classm/clmore egalitarian
• 7) Childrennot correlated with m.quality
• U curve or declining over time
• 1st 10 yrs sharply, then
  gradually
• 8) Life cycle
• 9) Communicationnegotiation over difficulties

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The Sexual Relationship in Marriage

• Gendered Sexual Intimacy Women and men differ
  in their sexuality.
• The Sexual Stages in Marriage Sexual contact
  occurs most often early in marriages.
• Sex as Power Sex can be used as an instrument
  of power.

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Power and Decision Makingin Marriage

• Sources of Power in Marriage
• a) Resourcesincome
• 75--7000 couples--power related
• to income
• b) Social Class --ideology behavior
• c) Race and Ethnicity
• Latinasmore equality when wife works
• Af Amer---most egalitarian

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Power and Decision Makingin Marriage

• Individual Factorsage size

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Reconstructing gender roles

• Building an egalitarian marriage
• Pepper SchwartzPeer Marriage
• Study of couplesbased on equality,
• equity and intimacy
• Shared
• 1. household workno more than 60/40
• 2. both believe equal influence-decisions
• 3. both feel equal control of econ. Assets
• 4. work of each given equal weight

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Future of marriage

• Changing or dying