Traditionally in most Western countries religiously based social
norms have held that sexual activity should be engaged in only within
formally celebrated marital unions, which in turn should be regarded
as lifelong. Nowhere have these norms ever been universally adhered
to, especially by men, but in the last two to three decades they have
been rejected on an unprecedented scale. Rising levels of nonmarital
pregnancy, marital breakdown, and, more recently, informal
cohabitation have been held in some quarters to greatly endanger the
institutions of marriage and the family.
Recognising the ease with which they can be misinterpreted, this
thesis provides a comprehensive analysis of socio-demographic data
pertaining to changing patterns of nonmarital sexual behaviour and
changing attitudes to marriage and the family in New Zealand since the
Second World War. Trends in nonmarital (and in particular premarital)
pregnancy and childbearing, marriage and coresidence at marriage, and
divorce are examined in detail. The study also explores changes in
the pattern of placement of children born ex-nuptially, some of the
personal consequences of childbearing following ex-nuptial conception,
factors associated with divorce, and trends in the involvement of
children in divorce. The drawing together of these phenomena within a
single conceptual framework emphasises their joint reflection of
forces for social change which have been operating in New Zealand.
The evolutionary character of social change is stressed at
several points. The wresting of control over courtship, mate selection, and the decision when to marry from parents by young people
of the affluent 1950s is seen as having in many ways initiated the
process. Among the forces recognised as having built on this
foundation are the assumption of further generational independence by
the young, pressure for, and achievement of, greater equality and
independence by women, major improvements in women’s ability to
control their fertility, and arisng out of these things a much more
individualistic central set of values.
Evidence presented suggests that by the latter half of the 1970s
the more permissive sexual morality which successive youth cohorts
have developed had acquired a certain maturity. It was being
practised more openly and with greater ideological conviction. It was
also leading less frequently to unplanned parenthood and early
marriage. Indeed marriage was generally being approached much more
cautiously, and had possibly been rejected altogether in some
quarters. The former tendency may augur well for marital stability in
the future, and due allowance must be made for the fact that recent
instability has been partly the product of a unique, and temporary,
combination of circumstances. On the other hand values and priorities
which have assumed increased importance in domestic relations have in
the process rendered marriage and the family inherently more fragile
institutions
