Foundations of a common European home Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Foundations of a common European home - Essay Example r doors to migrations of selective groups notably: southern Europeans including Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese, as well as the recruitment of Turks for work in West Germany, Magrebians in France, and West Indian and Asians in the UK.1 What this meant is that Europe, immigration and, most importantly, the rapid industrialization would lay the foundations for the concept of a â€Å"common European home† in the 1950s and 1960s. In a bid to reassert their power in the postwar setting, countries in Europe, particularly Germany, France and Great Britain encouraged immigration, as many jobs were needed to filled. Most of these were factory work – those who were avoided by the nationals. The source of immigrants came from the poorer European countries, initially, and when these countries closed the wage gap with its more affluent neighbors, immigration and labor recruitment started to be sourced from the European colonies such as in South Asia and Africa.2 As migrant laborers renew their working contracts time and time again, they eventually laid down roots and a sense of residential permanency that they strove to legalize. Because of this, European governments have devised ways to integrate these immigrants into their respective societies drafting legislation to the same effect. For instance, we have the case of the West Berlin’s policy during the 1950s where the city government espoused the self -help philosophy in political-cultural integration. The functional approach that the city adopted has downplayed ethnic differences and made the immigrant-origin population an integral part of all local departmental and institutional mandates.3 This has cultivated a multicultural society somewhat akin to a common European home for European nationalities. Later on, sometime in 1975, European countries such as France and West Germany would enact family reunification policies wherein foreigners could settle permanently in the country along with their families.4 Because of

The Economics of Marriage and Divorce Research Paper

The Economics of Marriage and Divorce - Research Paper Example Going further, the paper shall discuss how economics affects decision making during the married period or the period leading to a divorce. The table above shows the trends in marriage and divorce rates in the US per 1000 people. It clearly shows that marriage rates have gone up and down cyclically while the divorce rates have shown a steady increase. Data in the 60’s show that while divorce rate was 2.5 per thousand, in the 80’s it shot up to 5.2 per 1000. (Friedberg Leora & Stern Steven, 2003) This has now come down and in 2005 it showed 3.6 divorces per thousand people. Data also reveals that in 1880, 75% of married people stayed together with their children which reduced to 41% in 2005. ( Wolfers Justin & Stevenson Betsey, 2007)1 However, the graph does not provide an accurate analysis of the current marriage rate since there has been a significant percentage of live-in relationships that have increased over the past decade. Marriages, unlike live-in relationships, have a contractual obligation that is rendered to the husband and wife by the state or by the priest who is presiding over the occasion. While some marriage functions have limited obligations that are spelled out by the priest, there are others that might require the couple to state what would be their conduct towards each other. Just like a contract, other terms would include how the money would be inherited to either couple in the event of a death or divorce and how much financial support would be provided if there is a child involved. (Dnes Antony & Rowthorn Robert, 2002) Just like in economics, where money plays an important role in making decisions, there are traditions in the Hindu culture of India that promote taking of dowry or the wealth that the bride would bring along when she would be legally wedded to the husband.