What do social scientists mean when they say marriage has become "deinstitutionalized"?
1 Answer
Some social scientists say marriage has become "deinstitutionalized" due to rapid and massive changes in the evolution of society.
Explanation:
Couples now feel it is acceptable to move in together, set up a life and buy property together, and have children together, while still not being married.
Divorce rates breaking up marriages climbed steadily in the seventies and into the eighties as divorce laws were relaxed.
Women gained the confidence to strike out on their own as society became more tolerant, and women could earn a living for themselves.
Couples are now delaying marriage and child-bearing to much later in life, which has the effect of tipping the divorce rate back towards more stable marriages.
Then couples are also finding more freedom in the relatively new acceptance of non-traditional arrangements like same sex marriages and "open" marriages.
There are statistics here:
http://divorce.com/divorce-rate/
