Attitudes towards marriage in postapartheid South Africa

It is widely accepted that humans are fundamentally social animals that have an inherent desire to belong. This need is thought to commonly apply to both women and men from two-parent and single-parent families (Walsh 2008). Marriage is believed to be one of the more established ways of realising the need to belong. It is further regarded as offering benefits such as living together, functional division of labour, financial security, emotional support and rearing children together.