Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Marriage
A strong marriage: staying connected in a world that pulls us
apart.
Doherty, W
Sydney, NSW: Finch Publishing,
2003, 208p
Research shows that most people still want a
permanent marital commitment, but that they are also sceptical that this
will happen. The author believes that today's core social and personal
challenge is how to have a successful, permanent marriage. He provides
advice on how to: strengthen marriage; resist consumer marriage; avoid
losing the marriage to the children; create time for marriage; resist
family, friends and therapists who undermine or threaten the marriage;
and discusses how to improve marriages through the celebration of
rituals, anniversaries and other special occasions.
Being married: your guide to a happy modern
marriage.
Aris, Sharon
Crows Nest, NSW: Allen and
Unwin, 2005, 282p, tables
Why should people marry and how can
they stay happily married? This book explores what makes marriage work,
what makes it fail and what marriage means. It presents advice from
marriage experts and married couples and case studies of what happens
within a marriage. It covers the meaning of marriage; love; de facto
relationships; divorce and remarriage; the wedding; how relationships
change after marriage; family interference; communication; maintaining
marriage; how to manage marital conflict; whether a man and a woman can
have an equally satisfying marriage; gender roles and the household
division of labour; gender roles, employment and child rearing; sex,
passion, infidelity and intimacy; money; children; marriage counselling;
and illness.
Better late than never: adapting to the commitment of
marriage later in life.
Kerin, Tony
Threshold no.83
Mar 2005: 15
The median age at which Australians first marry
is rising. This article discusses the potential difficulties for the
marriage relationship posed by the personalities of partners who are
older and therefore more set in their ways.
Christian-Muslim intermarriage in Australia:
identity, social cohesion or cultural fragmentation.
Ata,
Abe W
Ringwood, Vic: David Lovell Publishing, 2003, 136p,
figures, tables
Intermarriage is the best indicator of whether
a group is fully integrated into the mainstream community,
the author argues. He discusses the dynamics of Christian
Muslim inter faith marriages, cross religious misunderstandings,
demographic characteristics, forces behind Christian
Muslim marriages, adjustment and complications of inter
faith marriages, attitudes to discrimination and attitudes
to children, including questions of identity and sharing
responsibilities.
Confronting the marriage gap.
Devine, Miranda
Threshold no.88 Dec 2006: 24-25
Current
trends in modern marriage and divorce are discussed in this article,
including that more women than men file for divorce, couples with higher
socio economic status are more likely to sustain a long term marriage
than lower educated, lower income couples, and that marriage rates have
risen. The article includes tips for creating a healthy
relationship.
Current approaches to marriage and relationship research in
the United States and Australia.
Penman, Robyn
Family Matters no.70 Autumn 2005: 26-35
This paper is
concerned with the decline in marriage rates over the past 30 years,
arguments about the undermining of the institution of marriage and, in
particular, with the relevance to Australia of the approach of Linda
Waite, a family sociologist, and Maggie Gallagher, a journalist, in their
book, The Case for Marriage. They wrote their book in response to what
they saw as an attack on the institution of marriage, and compiled
evidence to show that marriage conferred a number of benefits to the
spouses. This article addresses the questions of whether married
Australians are better off than their non married counterparts and if
there are any differences between married and non married people, are
they attributable directly to the institution of marriage.
Do couples who pray together stay together?
Walters, Kathleen M
Threshold no.84 Jul 2005: 25-27
What role does religion play in family stability? This article examines
questions relating to the effect of religion on family life, discussing:
healthy couples; religious home life; marital well being; divorce and
separation; interfaith marriages; consequences for marriage
educators.
Does
marriage improve the wages of men and women in Australia?
Breusch, Trevor; Edith, Gray
In: Population and society: issues,
research, policy: Australian Population Association 12th Biennial
Conference, 15-17 September 2004, Canberra. Canberra, ACT: ACSPRI Centre
for Social Research, Australian National University, 2004, 20p, tables,
figures, Online only (PDF 407K)
It has been demonstrated that
married men have higher wages than unmarried men, but what are the
effects of marriage on women's remuneration? This paper analyses data
from the 2001 HILDA survey to explore women's marriage premiums. The
paper also considers the changing concept of marriage and examines
differences in wage outcome between legal, de facto and ex marriage
states.
Effect of family structure on life satisfaction: Australian
evidence.
Evans, M D R; Kelley, Jonathan
Melbourne, Vic: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social
Research, University of Melbourne, 2004, 25p, tables, (Melbourne
Institute working paper no.24/04), and Online (PDF 195K)
How
do family arrangements affect subjective wellbeing? Based on data from a
representative national sample of Australia (n=26,009), the pooled
International Social Science Surveys / Australia, 1984-2001, this paper
investigates the impact of diverse family structures on well being,
including the possibility that family structure affects men and women
differently. The paper also reviews the main theories linking family
structure and well-being and sets out their (conflicting) predictions.
The results strongly suggest that marriage makes people happier because
the security and legal recognition of a formal marriage makes for
committed, loving personal relationships. The practical implications of
the importance of commitment are discussed, as are the public policy
implications of the findings for tax and welfare policies.
Expectations of marriage among cohabiting couples.
Qu,
L
Family Matters no.64 Autumn 2003: 36-39, table, figures and
Online (PDF 179K)
In the past, living together was often a
stepping stone to marriage. As cohabitation has become commonplace, do
people who are cohabiting these days expect to marry their partner? This
article asks the following questions: What are cohabitors' expectations
about marriage, and to what extent do people have marriage in sight when
they are cohabiting? Does the perceived prospect of marrying vary
according to the length of time people have been cohabiting, or to the
cohabitors' gender, age or previous marital status? To what extent do
partners agree on their marriage prospects? This paper first examines
links between the expectations of marriage of cohabiting men and women
and their previous marital status, their age, and the length of their
cohabiting relationship. It then looks at the extent to which both
partners share the same or similar view on their prospects of marrying
each other.
For richer or poorer: women, men and
marriage.
Baxter, J; Gray, E
Canberra, ACT:
Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, 2003,
21p (Negotiating the Life Course discussion paper DP-012), Online only
(PDF 513K)
The authors summarise the debate about whether
marriage is good for men and women, as posed in 1972 by Jessie Bernard,
and more recently Waite and Gallagher and others. They then investigate
the marriage debate using data from the Negotiating the Life Course
Project, noting that the data collected as part of this project is
particularly useful for examining the debate as it contains detailed
information on marital history and relationships. It also contains
information on a range of possible indicators for examining the effects
of marriage on men and women, including the domestic division of labour,
employment participation, earnings, health, wellbeing and attitudes. The
authors focus on the experience of de facto cohabitation as well as legal
marriage.
Family, work and health: the impact of marriage, parenthood
and employment on self-reported health of Australian men and
women.
Hewitt, Belinda; Baxter, Janeen; Western, Mark
Journal of Sociology v.42 no.1 Mar 2006: 61-78, tables
We
investigate multiple-burden and multiple-attachment hypotheses for the
association among marriage, parenthood, employment and health for
Australian men and women. Using longitudinal data from the Australian
panel survey, 'Negotiating the Lifecourse', we find that men and women
employed full time report better health than those employed part time or
not employed. Previously married women report worse health than married
women, but there is no association between marital status and health for
men. We also find that men with preschool children in the household
report worse health than men with older children, whereas women with
preschool children report better health than women with older children.
In addition, for women we find evidence of a role-burden where combining
full-time employment and children has a negative impact on health, but
combining children with part-time or no employment has a beneficial
health effect. There are no health effects of combining roles for men.
(Journal abstract)
For better or for worse: an Australian counsellor's
perspective on trends in composition of families.
Pattenden, Rosalie
Family Matters no.73 2006: 46-51
In
the previous edition of Family Matters, Robyn Parker discussed
international perspectives on the retreat from marriage, the growth of
cohabitation, and whether marriage is valued, concluding with some
thoughts on the what the future of marriage might be. In this article
the author and Michele Simons were invited to respond to the issues
raised in the article by Parker. The author of this article looks at the
change in the meaning of marriage and the place it has in people's lives.
She reviews the need for in depth Australian research to determine what
marriage and cohabitation means to people and how it influences their
choices and long term relationships.
For richer for poorer, in sickness and in health: should
Australia embrace same-sex marriage?
Cooper, Donna
Australian Journal of Family Law v.19 no.2 Aug 2005: 153-174
In 2004, the Marriage Act 1961 (Cth) was amended to clarify that legal
marriage requires a heterosexual union. This article will examine whether
this amendment was consistent with the existing state of the common law,
legislative trends throughout Australia and current societal values. It
will also canvass the legal and social arguments in support of and in
opposition to same-sex marriage. Arguments in support of legal same-sex
unions based on equality before the law and international obligations
will also be discussed. The recent amendments in Australia will then be
contrasted with legal reforms in Canada aimed at ensuring that their
Federal legislation is consistent with the equality provisions of the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Finally, an alternative system of
relationship registration will be posed as a possible compromise.
(Journal abstract)
How does marriage affect the wages of men in
Australia?
Birch, Elisa Rose; Miller, Paul W
Economic Record v.82 no.257 Jun 2006: 150-164
Are there wage advantages associated with marriage in Australia? This
article presents evidence that men benefit financially from being
married. They benefit most, in terms of wages, from being married to a
more highly educated woman. This advantage is greater where the wife
does not work. These findings are more aligned with human capital theory
than with assortative mating theory. (Journal abstract, edited)
Intermarriage in Australia: patterns by ancestry, gender and
generation.
Khoo, Siew-Ean
People and Place v.12
no.2 2004: 35-44, tables, figure
Ancestry data from the 2001
Census allow us to explore intermarriage patterns among people of
different ethnic backgrounds in Australia including: people born overseas
(the first generation), their Australian-born children (the second
generation), and their Australian-born grandchildren and so on (termed
here the third generation plus). While rates of intermarriage vary
sharply among the second generation, by the third generation most people
are marrying outside their own ancestry groups. For example,
second-generation people reporting Greek ancestry are very likely to
marry others of a similar ancestry but the third generation are not. Most
groups of Asian ancestry have not been in Australia long enough to
produce a large third generation of marriageable age, but people
reporting Indian and Chinese ancestry show a similar pattern to the
Greeks: strong in-marriage in the second generation followed by strong
out-marriage in the third-plus generation. (Journal abstract)
Making marriages last.
Parker, R
Family Matters
no.60 Spring - Summer 2001: 80-89, illus. and Online (PDF 960K)
Why do some marriages dissolve in a relatively short space of time,
while others go on for as long as 75 years or more, still vibrant happy
relationships enjoyed by both partners? This article examines theoretical
explanations of how marriages 'succeed' or 'fail' and reviews three
studies that have gone to the source and asked long-married couples how
they explain the longevity of their marriage.
Making marriage, domestic relationships
and family work. Part XXIII.
Burnard,
Don
Relatewell
v.11 no.1 Jan 2007: 8-11
Happiness in a
marriage is the by product of a fulfilling life and
happiness in the individual. This article discusses
the key to fulfilment in marriage, which involves identifying
one's purpose in marriage and being able to change
purpose and direction as the emphasis in marriage changes.
It also looks at challenges involved in making marriage
work.
Marriages
and divorce : changes and their driving forces new
Stevenson, Betsey; Wolfers, Justin.
Bonn, Germany : IZA, 2007.
Series: Discussion paper (Forschungsinstitut zur
Zukunft der Arbeit : Online 180kb) ; no. 2602.
The authors document key facts
about marriage and divorce, comparing trends through
the past 150 years and outcomes across demographic
groups and countries. While divorce rates have risen
over the past 150 years, they have been falling for
the past quarter century. Marriage rates have also
been falling, but more strikingly, the importance
of marriage at different points in the life cycle
has changed, reflecting rising age at first marriage,
rising divorce followed by high remarriage rates,
and a combination of increased longevity with a declining
age gap between husbands and wives.
Marriage and divorce's impact on wealth.
Zagorsky, Jay
Journal of Sociology v.41 no.4 Dec 2005: 406-424,
figures, tables
What impact do marriage and divorce have on
wealth? US data from the National Longitudinal Survey Youth (NLSY70),
which tracks individuals in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, show that over
time single respondents slowly increase their net worth. Married
respondents experience per person net worth increases of 77 percent over
single respondents. Additionally, their wealth increases on average 16
percent for each year of marriage. Divorced respondents' wealth starts
falling four years before divorce and they experience an average wealth
drop of 77 percent. While in percentage terms divorce hurts women more
than men, the absolute difference is relatively small in the United
States. (Journal abstract)
Marriage and money: the impact of marriage on men's and
women's earnings.
Hewitt, B; Western, M; Baxter, J
Canberra, ACT: Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National
University, 2002, 33p (Negotiating the Life Course discussion paper
DP-007), Online only (PDF 545K)
In this study the authors
examine the relationship between marriage and earnings for men and women.
They examine the impact of marriage on women's earnings, and compare the
effect of marriage for men and women at different points on the earnings
distribution using robust and quantile regression methods. The paper uses
Australian data from the Negotiating the Life Course Project (1996-97).
The authors find no association between marriage and wages for women, but
that for men a large and significant premium exists, in that married men
earn 15 per cent more than their unmarried counterparts (after adjusting
for human capital, job and family characteristics).
Marriage and money: variations across the earnings
distribution.
Western, Mark; Hewitt, Belinda; Baxter,
Janine
Australian Journal of Labour Economics v.8 no.2 Jun 2005:
163-179, tables, figures
This paper uses Australian data from
the Negotiating the Life Course project 1997 to investigate the impact of
marriage on men's and women's earnings. It investigates whether the
effect of marriage is constant for men and women at different points on
the conditional earnings distribution by using robust and quantile
regression techniques. The paper finds no association between marriage
and wages for women, but for men a large and significant premium exists
with married men earning around $5,700 per annum more than their
unmarried counterparts, after adjusting for human capital, job and family
characteristics. Overall, there are very few differences in the
association between marriage and earnings for men and women across the
wage distribution although, importantly, the paper finds that the returns
to marriage tend to be smaller and non significant for men at the top of
the distribution than for men in the middle of the distribution. (Journal
abstract, edited)
Marriage within and without one's religious
group.
Hughes, Philip
Pointers: Bulletin of the
Christian Research Association v.14 no.2 Jun 2004: 6-8, table
Many religious groups, particularly those with tight boundaries,
encourage or pressure their members to marry within the group. This
article looks at inter marriage rates of different religious groups, the
effects of immigration on inter marriage rates, and changes in culture
regarding marriage across religious boundaries in Australia.
Marriage, children and subjective well-being.
Shields,
M; Wooden, M
In: 8th Australian Institute of Family Studies
Conference, Melbourne, 12-14 February 2003: proceedings. Melbourne, Vic:
Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2003, 21p, tables. Online only
(PDF 70K)
This paper uses data from the first wave of the
Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey to examine the
role of marriage and family characteristics in explaining variations
across individuals in self-reported life satisfaction. Key features of
the analysis include: (a) distinguishing persons in registered marriages
from those in de facto marriages; (b) separating the impact of children
according to age, dependence, and whether residing in the household; and
(c) allowing the effects of children (and other variables) to vary with
marital status. (Author abstract)
Marriages celebrated by religious rite in Australia: over 30
years of decline.
Bentley, Peter
Pointers: Bulletin
of the Christian Research Association v.15 no.3 Sept 2005: 15-16,
figures, tables
Since the 1970s the percentage of marriages
conducted by religious celebrants has declined significantly. This
article examines statistics relating to religious marriage celebrations
and discusses the impact of divorce, religious preference and
cohabitation.
Marriages, Australia 2006
Australian Bureau of
Statistics
Canberra, ACT: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007
(ABS catalogue no.3306.0.55.001), Online only
This statistical publication provides information on marriages registered in Australia during the 2006 calendar year. Marriage registrations were
sampled for the larger states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland
and South Australia, while the other states and territories were fully
enumerated. Details are provided of age at marriage, first marriages and
remarriages, marriage celebrants, country of birth, cohabitation prior to
marriage, international comparisons.
Mixed marriages: Catholic/non-Catholic marriages in
Australia.
Ata, Abe W
Ringwood, Vic: David Lovell
Publishing, 2005, 111p, figures, tables
Challenges in
marriages between Catholics and Christians of another denomination are
explored in this book. It presents results from interviews with 100
Victorians in Catholic and other Christian marriages. The book discusses
the dynamics of inter faith marriages, demographic characteristics,
forces behind Catholic and other Christian marriages, adjustment to and
complications of inter faith marriages, attitudes to discrimination and
related variables, and attitudes to children relating to identity and
sharing responsibility.
Pathways in to
marriage: life course patterns and the domestic division of
labour.
Baxter, Janeen; Haynes, Michele; Hewitt,
Belinda
In: HILDA Survey Research Conference 2005: papers.
Parkville, Vic: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social
Research, University of Melbourne, 2005, 22p, tables, figures, Online
(PDF 204K)
This paper uses three waves of data from the HILDA
surveys to examine changes in the domestic division of labour over the
lifecourse. Earlier research by Baxter (2005) has suggested that the
pathway taken to establish a marital relationship affects the level of
gender equality within marriage. Specifically couples that cohabit prior
to marriage were found to adopt more equal divisions of labour than those
who married without a prior period of cohabitation. This paper extends
this research by using longitudinal data that enables examination of the
effect of differing pathways into marriage on domestic labour patterns
over the lifecourse. Hours per week devoted to household labour are
analysed using a linear mixed model that contains a random term to
account for correlation among responses for individuals over time. A
lagged variable that combines marital status with household composition
is included in the model to investigate the affect of a change in status
on household labour. The results show that women spend far longer on
housework than men at all stages of the lifecourse and experience much
greater variation in housework hours as they transition through different
marital states. There is also evidence that time spent in a cohabiting
relationship prior to marriage leads to fewer hours on housework after
marriage, but only for women. The paper concludes that differing pathways
into marriage lead to different outcomes for women after marriage.
(Author abstract)
Perspectives on the future of marriage.
Parker, Robyn
Family Matters no.72 Summer 2005: 78-82
With marriage rates falling and cohabitation rising in many Western
societies, there are concerns in some quarters that the future of
marriage is bleak. What lies beneath these trends, and what are the
implications for the institution of marriage? In this article the author
discusses some of the current international thinking, and outlines the
explanations for the trends offered by researchers and scholars and their
views on the ways in which some of the patterns could play out in the
long term.
(Re)-forming marriage in Australia?
Simons,
Michele
Family Matters no.73 2006: 46-51
In the
previous edition of Family Matters, Robyn Parker discussed international
perspectives on the retreat from marriage, the growth of cohabitation,
and whether marriage is valued, concluding with some thoughts on the
future of marriage. In this article the author and Rosalie Pattenden
were invited to respond to the issues raised in the article by Parker.
The author of this article offers some points of discussion to inform
further debate on the future of marriage and family life in Australia.
She concludes that marriage and family life are becoming more complex
social phenomena as individuals seek to develop meaningful intimate
relationships in the midst of social and economic change and at a time
when individual rights and freedom of choice are important cultural
values.
Social marital status in Australia: evidence from 2001
Census.
Hakim, Abdul
In: Population and society:
issues, research, policy: Australian Population Association 12th Biennial
Conference, 15-17 September 2004, Canberra. Canberra, ACT: ACSPRI Centre
for Social Research, Australian National University, 2004, 38p, tables,
Online only (PDF 756K)
Using data from the 2001 Census, this
paper investigates changes in marital status, both registered marriages
and de facto relationships, for the period 1991 - 2001. Results show an
increase in the proportion of never married and de facto relationships
and a decline in registered marriages. The following groups are more
likely to be in de facto relationships: never married, divorced,
separated, younger age groups, females, people living in rented
dwellings, people with no religious affiliation, people who speak
Northern European languages, people who were born in Oceania and
Antarctica, and Indigenous people.
Socio-economic status, health shocks, life satisfaction and mortality:
evidence from an increasing mixed proportional hazard
model.
Frijters, Paul; Haisken-DeNew, John; Shields,
Michael
Canberra, ACT: Centre for Economic Policy Research,
Australian National University, 2005, 32p, (CEPR discussion paper
no.496), Online (PDF 230K)
The socio-economic gradient in
health remains a controversial topic in economics and other social
sciences. The authors develop a new duration model that allows for
unobserved persistent individual-specific health shocks and provides new
evidence on the roles of socio-economic characteristics in determining
length of life using 19-years of panel data from the German
Socio-Economic Panel. They also test if more satisfied people live
longer. Results confirm the importance of income, education and marriage
as important factors in determining longevity - for example, a one-log
point increase in real household monthly income leads to a 12% decline in
the probability of death. Individuals with a high level of life
satisfaction when initially interviewed live significantly longer, but
this effect is completely due to the fact that less satisfied individuals
are typically less healthy. The authors suggest that their duration model
is a useful tool when analysing a wide-range of single-spell durations
where individual-specific shocks are likely to be important.
The I do's and don'ts of intercultural marriage.
Kahlenberg, Rebecca R
Threshold no.84 Jul 2005: 11-13
Spouses in intercultural marriages can be faced with additional
challenges in their relationship that derive from cultural differences.
This article discusses some aspects of intercultural marriages, and
offers suggestions for dealing with specific difficulties arising from
differing cultural attitudes towards child rearing, in laws, religion,
and other issues.
The legal regulation of marriage.
Nicholson,
Alastair
Melbourne University Law Review v.29 no.2 Aug 2005:
556-572
The Marriage Amendment Act 2004, which proscribes
same sex marriages in Australia, is unnecessary and discriminatory, this
article argues. The article discusses the new legislative definition of
marriage, considers whether a definition of marriage was needed, explores
constitutional considerations and examines the attraction of marriage.
It looks at the effects of the legislation on the gay and lesbian and
transgender communities and on single parents. An update to include
significant international and domestic developments in relation to legal
regulation of same sex relationships is provided by the journal critique
editors, Vegjie Cari and Benjamin Kiely.
To have but not to hold: a history of attitudes to marriage
and divorce in Australia 1858-1975.
Finlay, Henry
Leichhardt, NSW: Federation Press, 2005, 434p, tables
In this
book, the author provides an account of the changes affecting the
institution of marriage in Australia following the introduction of
divorce in 1858. The author begins with an introductory account of
marriage and divorce in England and developments in the Australian
colonies. Parliamentary debates are surveyed in the various colonies and
States, as well as the Commonwealth after marriage and divorce had come
under its jurisdiction. As well as providing a mirror of contemporary
attitudes, some of the side issues in the events of the times also
emerge. They include changes in the status of women and the gradual
abandonment of the double standard in the grounds of adultery; the
respective attitudes of men and women to each other; relations between
England and its colonial administrators; the growth of a national
identity and of growing colonial independence; and the abandonment of the
concept of fault as the basis for divorce.
To marry or not to marry: marital status and the household
division of labour.
Baxter, Janeen
Journal of Family
Issues v.26 no.3 Apr 2005: 300-321, tables
Domestic labour
patterns among de facto and married men and women are examined in this
article, using data from the 1996-1997 Negotiating the Life Course
Survey. The article also considers the impact of previous relationships
and explores whether housework patterns developed within a de facto
relationship endure after marriage.
What is commitment? How married and cohabiting parents talk
about their relationships.
Pryor, Jan; Roberts, Josie
Family Matters no.71 Winter 2005: 24-31, tables
In this
article the authors discuss the findings of a small qualitative New
Zealand study that examined the accounts of married and cohabiting
parents about their views of relationship commitment. The authors asked
couples to describe the concept of commitment, their experiences of
commitment as partners and parents, why they had chosen to marry or not
marry, and barriers to leaving their relationships.
Who gets the best deal from marriage: women or
men?
Dempsey, K
Journal of Sociology v.38 no.2 Jun
2002: 91-110
Feminists of various kinds - structural,
radical, critical, materialist - have repeatedly asserted that marriage
benefits men more than women and usually at women's expense. There is now
a considerable body of empirical evidence that supports the major thrust
of their claims. However, there are feminists adopting a
post-structuralist perspective who argue that many accounts of men's
dominance are overly deterministic. The argument goes that there is
insufficient recognition of change that is already ensuring more
rewarding marriages for women much of which is probably due to women's
exercise of agency. It is further argued that, in order for women to
initiate successful change, it is necessary but not sufficient for them
to be aware of inequities and other shortcomings occurring at specific
sites in their marriage. In the present study, a sample of 45 wives and
40 husbands were questioned to see if they agreed that men generally
benefited the most from marriage, to find out what reasons they offered
for their judgements and to establish if women were more conscious than
men of the need for specific changes in their own marriages. The
possibilities of actors negotiating successfully for specific change in
the face of their partner's opposition are also considered. It is argued
that women will make only limited gains until men experience a change of
heart. (Journal abstract)
Why marriages last: a discussion of the literature.
Parker, R
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies,
2002, 26p, figures (Research Paper no.28), and Online (125K)
In the field of marriage and relationships research there has tended to
be a preoccupation with relationship breakdown and dissolution, obscuring
the body of literature that explores the reasons why many marriages are
enduring, satisfying and happy. Drawing on this literature, this paper
discusses some of what is known about why many marriages last for very
long periods and considers how knowledge of the ways in which marriages
can be made to last can help young couples create and maintain their own
enduring and rewarding marriages. The paper is not intended to provide a
critical analysis of the literature on long lasting marriages. Rather, it
aims to draw attention to the body of literature available on how
enduring and rewarding marriages can be created and maintained. (Author
abstract, edited)
With all my worldly goods I thee endow?: the partnership
theme in Australia matrimonial law.
Fehlberg, Belinda
International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family v.19 no.2 Aug
2005: 176-193
What is the basis for the giving and receiving
of benefits in modern marriage? The development of the partnership theme
in Australian matrimonial property law is discussed in this article. The
article looks at the partnership theme as articulated by the Full Court
of the Family Court, the development of the theme of partnership, Mallet
and the 1983 amendments to the Family Law Act, current judicial division
between the partnership approach and the evaluative approach, and
problems with the partnership approach. The article considers the
desirability of partnership as a theme for dividing matrimonial
property.