Marital breakdown and the future of marriage

The institution of marriage is in a process of transformation. There is evidence of changing patterns of premarital sexual behaviour and cohabitation. But the single most important indicator of change is an unprecedented rise in marital breakdown in the last 25 years. In England and Wales one in three marriages are heading for dissolution and in the U.S.A. the number is nearer one in two. The adverse consequences of divorce are extensive and involve ill-health and poor functioning at work. In order to match the new aspirations of marriage a whole series of corrective measures are needed in education and preventive work.