| #2 Blame it on Socialism. Back before the octopus of government put its testicles into every aspect of life, other social institution performed functions that the state has displaced. The society, no matter how imperfect in implementation, gave women the monopoly on sex. The social bargain was that women, who did not have full sovereign/human rights, were in turn provide a degree of protection in their economic and legal standing. Those who did survive their husbands, since complications of child birth and high infant mortality made it statistically unlikely, often faced challenges by any blood male family member no matter how distant [uncle, cousins, etc - hell, even today the Anne Nicole story still carries that thread]. It was important to establish a male son not only to protect the property but also the 'honor thy father and mother' by providing sustainment in their old age. Then the state granted the right to vote and evolved an equatable standing. Many property laws were rewritten. The state created Social Security, in one form or another, and then NHS/Medicare. Each of the elements that once were fundamental to the social institution have been displaced by the state. Then the state sponsored serial polygamy and polyandry in the '60s and 'consenting adults' in the '80s. The last remaining vestige of the sex monopoly remains commercial sex. What is restricted to certain counties in Nevada is basically legal in most of England. So why is anyone surprised of the end of marriage in such a situation? Oh, and toss in the old adage that the more government subsidizes something the more it gets, thus single head of households rises. |