Marriage, Marital Status and Relationships

Abstract

Unlike births and deaths, the two types of events of primary interest to demographers, marriage is not a biological event but a social event. Historically it has been of interest to demographers principally because of its close connection with the process of fertility. In most societies marriage has traditionally signalled the commencement of regular sexual activity and hence of serious exposure to the risk of childbearing. Equally, provided the biological procceses associated with getting older have not already done so, marriage dissolution, whether through divorce or widowhood, tends (sometimes only temporarily) to terminate exposure to the risk of childbearing.