Exam 11: Families and Intimate Relationships

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There are several explanations for this trend in the past several decades.First,increases in cohabitation among younger people account for the decreases (or delays)in marriage.Young people are cohabiting before or instead of marrying.Second,increases in postsecondary school enrollment,especially among women,are partially responsible for delays in marriage.Third,women's increased participation in the labor force often leads to delays in marriage as women work to establish their careers before marrying and starting a family.Labor force participation also increases economic independence among women.By earning their own income,many women no longer need a male breadwinner in their home.The flip side of the economic independence argument is the idea that the deterioration of men's economic position since the late 1980s has made them less attractive mates and less ready to marry.Some researchers have used this idea-the marriageable men hypothesis-to explain the especially low marriage rates among blacks;because black men have suffered the worst economic conditions in the past few decades,black women might view them as particularly poor marriage candidates.Finally,some researchers believe that modernization,changing gender roles,and a shift in attitude that promote individualism make marriage less important than it once was.