Author Question: Why is there a decline in the role of parents in deciding their children's marriage? What will be ... (Read 161 times)

lb_gilbert · **on:** Jul 2, 2018

Why is there a decline in the role of parents in deciding their children's marriage?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

What is the effect of the declining role of families in today's society on the stability of marriages?

What will be an ideal response?

ju · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 2, 2018

Answer to Question 1

One reason for the declining role of parents over the years is that kinship is less important in modern societies, and one's kin, including one's parents, have considerably fewer stakes in who marries whom. A second reason is that children have a greater degree of economic independence from their parents in industrial societies, and parents therefore have less leverage with which to demand a say in the choice of a marriage partner.

Answer to Question 2

Since families perform fewer functions today than in the past, there are fewer pressures on couples to stay together if they are unhappy. In the past, the same unhappy couple might have remained married because neither spouse felt he or she could raise the children alone or he or she needed the family for support in old age. Today, single parents are better prepared to raise a child, and most people are supported by government or private retirement plans in their old age. This independence has caused an increase in the number of divorces and willingness to view divorce as normal.