Chapter Twelve Of The Marriage And Family Textbook By...

Chapter fourteen of the Marriage and family textbook by David Knox, covers divorce and remarriage in today’s society. It discusses how the attitudes towards divorce have changed dramatically from how it was viewed by our parents and grandparents. Not only have society’s views changed on divorce but also on the functioning roles of the family and its structure. The author also goes into how the child custody issues have changed and what things affect children who have divorcing parents. He then goes into remarriage for divorced couples and the effect it can have on the children. One of the big factors in the changing divorce rate has to be credited to the women leaving the housewife role behind and joining or rejoining (after small children are in school) the work force. In my grandmother’s era many women felt trapped in their situation because they were dependent on their husband’s income to support them and their children. Not as many women had college degree and so even if they went back to work their earning potential was very limited. According to Knox, a womans husband â€Å"Literally represented her lifeline. Finding Gainful employment outside the home made it possible for a wife to leave her husband if she wanted to. Now that about three fourths of wives are employed, fewer wives are economically trapped in unhappy marriage.† (2014, p 253) The other big factor was society and various religious groups were not very tolerant of divorcees in my grandmother’s time. If you