Marriage and family are two closely related concepts in cultures around the globe, and the investigation of their relationship plays a significant role in understanding human affairs. Marriage is a legal agreement between two people to unite their lives and share common responsibilities. After marriage, a family is created as a socially recognized group. However, if marriage is usually an objective term, a family is characterized by a number of subjective interpretations. In this paper, attention will be paid to such factors as social class, age, and other determinants of marriage in order to comprehend the worth of a family in society.
Although many modern people support the ideas of democratic freedoms and equal opportunities, the impact of social class on marriage, friendship, and families is hard to ignore. Usually, marriage means a man being the head of a family and a woman being a carer of family members and the house. Several years ago, it was normal to see an upper-classman marrying a middle-class woman. The man earns a living and provides his family with money and support, and the woman has to prepare food, do housing, and take care of children. Today, the priorities have changed because women can earn, and the number of cross-class marriages continues to decrease and lose their actual meaning. However, if social class differences exist in a couple, their impact is easily recognizable. People from different classes vary in managing their finances, considering their opportunities, and planning their lives. If marriage is based on love, families with different social backgrounds may survive, prioritizing feelings, emotions, and mutual support. If business purposes are used to build a family, such marriages are unpredictable, and rarely long.
Many other factors may influence people’s decision to get married. In the United States, the necessity to promote a career status makes young people sign marriage agreements. In many European countries, pregnancy turns out to be a reason for marriage. However, the differences in societies should not be used as grounds for different opinions. In the majority of cases, the attitudes toward marriage and family depend on individuals. Such processes as globalization and multiculturalism promote diversity of cultures and beliefs within one community. Therefore, today, the person’s decision to get married because of pregnancy or career growth usually depends not on the preferred cultural interest, but their circumstances, knowledge, and individual plans.
Finally, talking about the impact of marriage and a family on society, one should admit the condition when young people decide to get married and have many children. However, the representatives of rich and poor countries vary in their opinions. Poor people are motivated to have more children and create large families for certain social, economic, cultural, or religious reasons, including limited access to education and contraception, high mortality rates, and extra labor (Noakes, 2019). Rich people usually focus on their careers and find it necessary to check on their health, have protected sexual intercourse, and weigh all pros and cons of having families. Such a comparison may be subjective or even cruel, but many poor families consider children as wealthy and an opportunity to have either financial or emotional support. At the same time, it is wrong to believe that poor families are mean or unfair. Millions of poor families adore their children and raise them with care and love, using all available resources. Rich people treat their families and children as a liability, with proper education, feeding, and protection being offered.
The impact of today’s living conditions, social principles, and cultural beliefs on marriage and family institutions are great. However, to understand better the relationship between these two concepts, it is also necessary to consider the worth of personal attitudes, emotions, and factors. It is normal to live in the same city or even on the same street and share different judgments about the decision to get married because of pregnancy or run away from a family. Marriage is a short-term action with a long-term impact known as a family.
Reference
Noakes, Z. (2019). Why do the poor have large families? Compassion. Web.