The state should ensure that people are enlightened enough to make sensible choices AND It must ensure the wellbeing of children. If it were not that families produce children, the state would have little legitimate reason for interfering in family life. Marriage in Australia has been in long term decline. Although there was a tiny blip in the trend last year, the number of couples getting married has been falling for the last thirty years, and the divorce rate is three times higher today than it was thirty years ago. More than a quarter of children born each year in Australia are now born to unmarried parents a record high figure which is still rising.
Opinion divides into two main camps.
The optimists argue that the decline in marriage reflects the increased autonomy of women. With more women in paid jobs, for example, they no longer have to marry in order to achieve security for themselves and their children. Modern relationships are more equal and more open, and the decline in marriage rates demonstrates that women do not have to put up with unsatisfactory and unbalanced relationships any more. An example of this line of argument came in this year's BBC Reith Lectures when the sociologist, Anthony Giddens, claimed that modern couples enjoy a level of emotional intimacy which was quite rare in old-fashioned marriages. Men and women must today take account of what each wants from a relationship, for they can walk away if a relationship becomes unsatisfactory.