Family and Environment

FAMILY STUDIES ASSIGNMENT

4. Using data available from Statistics Canada, summarize the demographic changes that have occurred in the formation of marriages in Canada since Confederation.

5. Summarize the evidence from the chapter that supports procreation, love, and companionship, identity, and economics as the purposes of marriage. Explain which purpose appears to be the most relevant today.

8. Should cohabitation have the same legal standing as marriage, or should cohabitation be an alternative relationship for those couples who want none of the legal rights or responsibilities of marriage? Choose an appropriate theoretical perspective and explain the two sides of the controversy.

4. Since Confederation in 1867, the ideology behind marriage has changed significantly. Naturally, marriage has morphed itself into Canadian society with every different time period. With every decade that Canadian society went through since Confederation, marriage went through and found its place within it. Ironically, the more scattered the unity among people seems to be as the years go on, the more idealistic and sacred the action of marriage becomes. Back in the times immediately following Confederation, marriage became an economic necessity. People married because men needed women to take care of the housework, and women needed economic stability. As the years