The Attitude of the young population towards marriage and family in R. Macedonia

Abstract

Talking about the marriage and family even though in the era of Globalization, our Macedonian society basically adheres to its traditional values. Family as a community represents a basic pillar of every society. Macedonian society, tradition, culture and the family values occupy one of the central position in the value system. The focus of this theoretical-empirical study is on the changes in the value system of the young population as a result of the influence of modern media and the acceptance of Western cultural values ​​associated with the institution of marriage. What was once recognizable in the highly developed Western countries nowadays is fearfully incorporated in the Macedonian society. I’m focusing my attention to the forms of cohabitation (cohabitation, extramarital affairs, and single parent families), which have been rare in the past, but for the newer generations, born in the last decades of the twentieth century are practically a reality, approaching them without any stigmatization or condemnation. The paper is focusing on the issue regarding the fact that the young population today is choosing to marry later, focusing on their socioeconomic aspects, as well as the role that modern media and social networks play in creating their attitudes. For this purpose, in the period January-February 2020, on the territory of the City of Skopje, an empirical research study on two hundred respondents was conducted, involving young people from all structures.