A; DUQUEHW Ph. D. I9i4

THE- IMPOIimNCE. ©1 MARITAL STATUS irWOMEM'S LIVE: A; DUQUEHW Ph. D. i9i4 THE IMPORTANCE OF MARITAL STATUS FOR WOMEN'S LIVES ANTHEA DUQUEMIN, B.A. (Hons) A thesis submitted to the Council for National Academic Awards in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Plymouth Polytechnic : July 1984 Department of Social and Political Studies Collaborating Establishment : Department of Sociology, University of Essex DECLARATION I hereby declare that, whilst registered as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with the Council for National Academic Awaxds I have not been a registered candidate for another awaird of the Council for National Academic Awards, nor of a University. The following activities, comprising the programme of related studies, have been undertaken: (i) A schedule of reading guided by the suF>ervisors. (ii) Attendance at various courses and conferences including the ECPR Summer School at Essex University (1981), the BSA Summer School (1982), the University of London course in Sources for Social and Economic Historians (1982), the 1983 BSA Conference and Oral History Conferences. 111 ABSTRACT Anthea Duquemin The Importance of Marital Status for Women's Lives This thesis aims to investigate the ways in which women's marital status influences various aspects of their lives* With the growing sociological interest in women many state• ments have been made and theories put forwajrd, the majority of which assume women to be wives and mothers. The intention of this thesis is to examine whether such theories are rele• vant to all women, irrespective of their marital status and merely because of their gender, or only to those women who have husbands of their own. Much emphasis has been placed on context in this study, for individuals' lives can only clearly be seen against their wider background and within the opportunities and restrictions of their particular surroundings, and for this reason the research was undertaken entirely within one small town, with women of working class origins and amongst women of two distinct age groups (over seventy and twenty to forty-five) thereby restricting the geographical, cultural and historical settings. Secondaxy sources, a survey questionnaire and in-depth inter• viewing were all used in this study. The former two provided information on the historical and contemporary background to, and content of women's lives, whilst in-depth interviewing with twenty women explored personal actions and feelings on a deeper level. The reseaxch suggested that improved standards of living have altered and blurred the reasons for which women of working class origins marry and hence influenced their understanding of marriage. Wider opportunities for more diverse ways of behaving permit currently unmarried women more vairiation from their married contemporaries in the practical aspects of their lives than was the case eairlier this century. Both older aind younger unmarried women, however, indicate considerable differences from married women in the internal and emotional aspects of their lives, suggesting that further consideration need be taJên of marital status when discussing women as a group. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Devon County Council for funding the post of a research assistantship and Plymouth Polytechnic for providing resources. Particular gratitude goes to my supervisor Diana Gittins who unobtrusively guided, helped and listened to me. Many thanks also to David Dunkerley and other members of the Department of Social and Political Studies at Plymouth Polytechnic, including the office staff, and to Paul Thompson, my second supervisor from Essex University. The people of Buckfastleigh to whom I spoke deserve much appreciation for their friendliness, co-operation and willingness to talk to me openly and instructively. I learnt much from many of these people. Very many thanks too, to all the friends who pulled me out of the doldrums many times with their sympathy and encouragement. CONTENTS Page no INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE - CONCEPTS OF MARRIAGE 9 INTRODUCTION 9 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CONCEPTS OF MARRIED AND UNMARRIED IVOMEN 11 CHANGING PATTERNS OF MARRIAGE 24 CONCLUSION 38 CHAPTER TWO - THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 45 INTRODUCTION 45 MATERIAL FACTORS OR IDEOLOGICAL INFLUENCE? 47 THE RELEVANCE AND MEANINGS OF MARRIAGE 48 WOMEN AND HOUSEWORK 50 WORK AND HOUSING 51 WOMEN AND EMPLOYMENT 53 WOMEN AND MONEY 55 WOMEN AND LEISURE 58 LEISURE, NETWORKS AND LIFE CYCLE STAGES 61 WOrÊN AND INTIMACY 63 WOMEN AND SELF IDENTITY 67 WOMEN AND SELF ESTEEM 68 WOMEN AND SEXUALITY 70 CONCLUSION 71 IV Page no CHAPTER THREE - METHODS AND METHODOLOGY 79 INTRODUCTION 79 LEVELS OF INFORMATION AND MULTIPLE METHODOLOGIES 80 COLLECTION OF BACKGROUND DATA 82 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH OLDER WOMEN 87 ORAL EVIDENCE: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 89 ADVANTAGES 89 CRITICISMS: REPRESENTATIVENESS? 91 RELIABILITY? 92 VALIDITY? 94 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH YOUNGER WOMEN 97 THE QUESTIONNAIRE 99 SURVEY METHODS: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 100 SELECTING THE SAMPLE 102 ADMINISTERING THE SURVEY 103 CONCLUSION 104 CHAPTER FOUR - SETTING THE CONTEXT 110 INTRODUCTION 110 BUCKFASTLEIGH IN THE PAST : INDUSTRY AND EMPLOYMENT 111 CLASS DISTINCTIONS 118 HOUSING 121 RESTRICTIONS 121 LEISURE 122 CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY 123 Page no THE CURRENT SITUATION : INDUSTRY AND EMPLOVMENT 125 TRANSPORT 127 LEISURE 127 HOUSING 128 CLASS DISTINCTIONS 130 CONCLUSION 132 CHAPTER FIVE - FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH MARRIAGE AND NON-MARRIAGE 136 INTRODUCTION 136 GENERAL FACTORS : DEMOGRAPHIC DATA 136 OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEETING PARTNERS 138 REASONS FOR MARRIAGE ~ ~ "144 HOUSING 145 CHILDREN 148 EMOTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS 149 INDIVIDUAL FACTORS : HOME, FAMILY AND HOUSING CONS IDER AT IONS 153 AMBITIONS AND EXPECTATIONS OF MARRIAGE 166 EMOTIONAL SECURITY OR INDEPENDENCE 178 FACTORS MITIGATING AGAINST MARRIAGE 180 CONCLUSION 189 CHAPTER SIX - SOME PRACTICAL EFFECTS OF MARITAL STATUS 199 INTRODUCTION 199 HOUSEWORK 199 HOUSING 214 VI Page no EMPLOYMENT 223 FINANCE 234 CONCLUSION 247 CHAPTER SEVEN - LESS TANGIBLE EFFECTS OF MARITAL STATUS 253 INTRODUCTION 253 LEISURE 253 INTIMACY, LONELINESS AND SELF IDENTITY 279 SELF ESTEEM 293 SEXUALITY 295 CONCLUSION 298 CHAPTER EIGHT - CONCLUSION 308 BIBLIOGRAPHY 325 APPENDICES vxi LIST OF TABLES Page no CHAPTER ONE TABLE 1 - MARITAL STATUS OF ALL FEMALES PER THOUSAND FEMALE POPULATION ENGLAND & WALES 1851 - 1981 25 TABLE 2 - NUMBER OF MARRIAGES IN ENGLAND & WALES 1841 - 1980 27 TABLE 3 - MARRIAGE RATES ENGLAND & WALES 1851 - 1980 27 TABLE 4 - MARRIAGES & REMARRIAGES - ENGLAND & WALES 1961 - 1980 29 TABLE 5 - AVERAGE AGE (MEDIAN) AT MARRIAGE OF BRIDES ENOlÂND & WALES 1901 - 1980 30 TABLE 6 - RATES OF FIRST MARRIAGES FOR WOMEN IN ENGLAND & WALES, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1978-80 30 TABLE 7 - PROPORTION OF WOMEN AGED 18-49 COHABITING 1980 81, GREAT BRITAIN 32 TABLE 8 - PERCENTAGES OF WDMEN AGED 16-49 IN 1981 WHO HAD LIVED WITH THEIR HUSBAND BEFORE THEIR CURRENT OR MOST RECENT MARRIAGE (GREAT BRITAIN) 33 TABLE 9 - MARRIAGE AND REMARRIAGE RATES FOR WOMEN IN ENGLAND & WALES 1901 - 1980 34 TABLE 10 - AGE AT MARRIAGE OF FEMALES IN ENGLAND & WALES 1966 - 80 34 TABLE 11 - WIDOWS PER THOUSAND POPULATION, GREAT BRITAIN, 1901 -*1981 36 TABLE 12 - NUMBER OF DIVORCES IN 5 YEAR TOTALS 1901 - 1980, ENGLAND & WALES 37 TABLE 13 - NUMBER OF DIVORCES IN ENGLAND & WALES 1970 - 1981 37 CHAPTER SIX TABLE 1 - BUCKFASTLEIGH FE^tALE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLDS 1981 216 vxix INTRODUCTION Marriage is an experience which the majority of the popula• tion of Britain undergo at some point in their lives. For women in particular it is assumed to be a crucial stage in their life history and the fact that women become wives is generally acknowledged to influence women•s development and lifestyle, both before and after marriage. Studies of the family, of communities, of work and. leisure all place much emphasis on the position of women as wives, and feminist theories in paurticulcu: stress the influence of the wifely role on women's lives. During this century not only has the proportion of women marrying increased, but changes have also occurred in the ways in which partners move into and out of marriage - divorce and remarriage being far more common now than they were earlier this century. Rates of marriage are therefore changing, as are the legal rights of both partners and the more implicit understanding of what marriage involves. All of these issues demand attention, but whilst much emphasis is placed on marriage, one factor goes apparently unnoticed - this being the significant number of women who exist outside marriage, either never marrying or through separation, divorce or widowhood. By remaining outside marriage such women contravene their anticipated role, but the extent to which this influences their lives is largely unexplored. In spite of the considerable attention paid to marriage and its effects on women's lives, it is rarely made clear whether this applies to all women by nature of their gender, or whether it is relevant only to women who actually aire wives. It may be the case that the image of the woman as a wife is so pervasive that women's actual marital status is unimportant. Nevertheless, unmarried women (whether never married or previously married) face quite different circumstances to whose which wives face, having no husband to consider, and when the concept of a woman is so closely bound to that of a wife the degree to which women outside marriage relate to this concept is un• clear. If these women's lives are significajitly different in fact, or if they feel themselves to be different from married women, the degree to which feminist theories based on marriage can be applied to all women is brought into question, and unmarried women thereby challenge the notion of womanhood as based on wifehood. Thus, whilst women's experiences are explained as being largely dependent on their position as wives or mothers it is unclear how relevant such theories aire for women who are neither.

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