Order and Disorder in Jewish Marriages, Families, Kinship Systems and the Immediate Built and Social Environments

Abstract

Drawing on the economics of marriage markets together with the sociology of marriages and families, this chapter covers some of the forces that help explain trends in Jewish family formation and high rates of failed marriages that were initiated by wives who turned to civil courts for their divorces. In addition to covering first and follow-on marriages, we ask if the stability and quality of family lives reflect more general disordering forces in the larger society.