Assess the view that marriage is no longer popular today

Marriage is the legally recognised union of two people as partners in a relationship. Theres a strong argument today that marriage has no future- there has been a significant decline in the last 40 years. Over half of british women over 16 today are unmarried and whereas there were 400k first marriages in the 1970s, There was only 230k overall in 2008. 
One reason for this is the decline in marriage, explained by women’s changing attitudes and ambitions. Liberal feminists argue that women value their careers far more nowadays. Sharpe interviewed working class girls in 1976 and 1994 and found the way they view life stages has changed. Whereas they used to place family and marriage as their main aims, now they value a career far more. Women’s employment has increased 24% since 1970. Wilkinson also argues that the changing roles and attitudes of women is a ‘genderquake’ as they no longer value marriage in the way they use to, prioritising their individual career far more. Flour and Buchanan also found that due to women’s employment, marriage is no longer economically necessary. Furthermore Drew argues that now marriage is a matter of choice; women can choose just to focus upon their careers. 
However the decline of marriage may be due to legal changes instead. The Divorce Reform Act of 1969 made it considerably easier to end a marriage, on the terms of an ‘irretrievable breakdown’ after being separated for two years. Moreover the 1984 matrimonial and family proceedings act allows divorce to come about after only a year of separation. Allan and crow argue that the ease of divorce has made women reluctant to marry, especially if their parents have divorced. However, marriage may not be unpopular but simply postponed- the average age for women to marry has increased 10 years since 1950. Overall, marriage has declined due to women’s changing attitudes and priorities making them more reluctant to marry.