Review article
https://doi.org/10.31192/np.16.1.6
Marriage and Cohabitation in Recent Hungarian Society
Tamás Ragadics
orcid.org/0000-0002-0187-3511
Abstract
The Christian view of society is based on families founded on sacramental marriages. Although Catholic Social Teaching documents regard family as the vital cell of society, this institution – regarded as a value by the Catholic Church – appears a less and less frequently adopted general norm or a realistic way of life. Due to processes of individualisation, social, economic and legal system changes contemporary Hungarian society faces a constant decline in not only religious but civil marriage rates as well, while alternative ways of living together emerge. Based on data from the first half of the 2010s an average Hungarian woman has 44-percent chance of getting married in her lifetime. While nearly two-third of Hungarian adults lived in marriages at the time of the Hungarian Transition in the 1990s, this rate dropped to less than 50 percent in both sexes. The number of unmarried men and women increased. The strengthening of cohabitation regarded as the most significant contextual factor is affecting changes. This study describes the relationship characteristics in the Hungarian society in the light of current statistics data. It highlights the social factors of demographic changes and processes as well as opportunities for the Catholic Church focusing on challenges in pastoral care. Conclusions concerning the Hungarian society are presented in a European context.
Keywords
cohabitation; family; Hungarian society; marriage
Hrčak ID:
196232
URI
Publication date:
22.3.2018.
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