Saskia,
There have indeed been changes in society and marriage in the Netherlands.
According to Dutch demographer Jan Latten:
The number of informal two-parent families as a share of the total number of couples has almost tripled between 1995 and 2003. The number of formal two-parent families (married couples with children) on the other hand, has decreased.
Remarkably, the number of second and further children born to unmarried parents in the period 1995-2003 has risen relatively sharply. This could be an indication of the fact that the norm of staying unmarried is spreading at an increasing pace. It means the informalisation of parenthood has reached a stage where the very concept of family life has become a subject of diffusion.
Today, 40 percent of all firstborn children are born out of wedlock. Marriage is fast losing its status as the essential sine qua non condition of parenthood.
I have argued that the changing of the definition of marriage will have the effect of making marriage irrelevant, and in turn, decrease the number of marriages in society. The statistics in the Netherlands would appear to support my theory.
Six or seven years may be enough time to influence people's general view of marriage, and their decisions as to whether or not to marry, but it is not enough time to gauge the full effect on society of the drastic shift in people's view regarding marriage, parenthood, and family life. For that, you will need to wait a generation or two.
