... 1964 there were 34,868 divorces per year in England; however by 1972 this had dramatically increased to 119, 025 (www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase). This was due largely to the 1969 Divorce Act, which introduced new grounds for divorce as well as "helping to redefine peoples perceptions of what was acceptable within marriage" (Allen G and Crow G, 2001, p24). Although the 1980's and 90's didn't witness as steep an increase in divorce rates as the 1970's did it is still estimated that four out of every ten marriages in Britain today will end in Divorce (Dallos and McLaughlin, 1993, p143). This has presented something of a challenge for successive governments social policies, as the post-war British social security system was founded on the assumption that there would be full employment, male breadwinners and stable families. The increase in single parent households that has arisen out of the higher divorce rate has led to ...

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