Divorce Is The Dissolution Of A Marital Union By Legal Means

In the 1970’s, divorce was relatively uncommon and difficult to happen. There needed to be adultery, abandonment, cruelty, intoxication or some other reason that made it necessary to end the marriage (“Why”). In today’s society, divorce happens every ten to thirteen seconds. Men and women fall in love, get married, and start a family. They make a vow to stay together forever and love each other unconditionally. However, not all marriages make it that far. Divorce occurs for multiple reasons such as financial problems, abuse, addictions, infidelity (cheating), and lack of communication. These factors, along with many others, not only affect the parents, but the children are affected as well.

There is a staggeringly large amount of divorces in the United States (US). In total, the US had a recorded total of 2,140,272 marriages in the year 2014 alone, and of those marriages, 813,862 ended up in divorce or annulment (Center for Disease Control). This means that as recently as 2014, there was a divorce rate of approximately 40%. This supports the statistics that the divorce rate for the US has stayed within 40-50% since the 1970’s (Austin Institute, 2014). While the numbers themselves are important, it is also important that the causes for the high divorce rate be explored, so that it can be known what pitfalls to avoid when participating in such an important union as marriage. There are many causes of divorce in the US such as conflicting gender roles, socioeconomic status, religious conflicts, physical abuse, emotional abuse, alcohol addictions, and many more (Amato & Previti, 2003). This paper will look at many of these reasons, but it will also focus on the differing reasons reported by men and women.

In the terms of Divorce – the legal termination of marriage, this has increased immensely since 1971 due to the change in legislation that had liberalized divorce, made it cheaper and easier to obtain. The Divorce Reform Act of 1971 was the most important because prior to 1971, one partner had to provide ‘evidence’ that they had been wronged by the significant other (matrimonial offence). Due to the change of the law, it allowed people to divorce on the basis of “irretrievable breakdown”. In addition, since 1984, the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act reduced the time limit for divorce for a minimum of 3 years of marriage to only one year. After this act, the divorce rate shot up again, as it did in 1971. Now, people were finally able to legally to end all connections, as previously when divorce was either too expensive or difficult to obtain, separation was very common, which was when a couple decided to live away from each other.

Throughout history, divorce has remained a controversial topic. Perceptions of divorce have drastically changed essentially because the value of marriage has changed. Marriage was once seen as a practical necessity and an irrevocable commitment. The view of marriage caused divorce to be perceived as a stigma. Divorce in earlier generations was not granted by the court system unless there were extenuating circumstances (Evolution). For example, if the woman in the marriage was unable to conceive children the divorce would be granted to the man. This remained the standard practice until the 1970’s with the introduction of “no-fault divorces” (Croteau).

Diverse ways of managing money, different financial incomes, and an absence of cash can create great tension in a marriage. In fact, statistics in a survey conducted by Citibank on the divorce rates in the United States suggested that more than fifty percent of divorced couples referred to financial problems as the cause of their divorce. If the couples have children, cash turns out to be significantly more crucial to the relationship. Many individuals refer to money as the reason for their separation. If there is not enough financial care, it causes a barrier in the relationship which is what essentially leads the couple to

Throughout time, practices that were once never used, become more common. In the 1600s divorce was a forbidden practice or a last resort. Since then, laws have changed, and so hasn’t the stigma related with divorce. The guilt and fault that divorce once carried has vanished. According to the book Should I Keep Trying to Work it out, “In the United States, researchers estimate that 40%–50% of all first marriages will end in divorce or permanent separation. The risk of divorce is even higher for second marriages, about 60%.” (Hawkins 42). As it became more common for couples in America to separate, divorce gradually became a normal part of so many lives. Why are so many couples separating now? Through research on EBSCO, and other findings, I will attempt to explain this question that so many people ask in today’s world. The divorce rate in America is drastically increasing over time due to new laws, certain generations, and relationship issues.

Chapter fourteen of the Marriage and family textbook by David Knox, covers divorce and remarriage in today’s society. It discusses how the attitudes towards divorce have changed dramatically from how it was viewed by our parents and grandparents. Not only have society’s views changed on divorce but also on the functioning roles of the family and its structure. The author also goes into how the child custody issues have changed and what things affect children who have divorcing parents. He then goes into remarriage for divorced couples and the effect it can have on the children.

As human civilization advances, the more tolerant society has become to behaviors that used to be regarded as appalling and immoral. One of these behaviors is becoming divorced. According to a recent guidebook for couples who are in the midst of a divorce or considering divorce, 70% of Americans believe that divorce is a morally acceptable choice (Hawkins, 2009). This new understanding of divorce has played a significant role in the choice that many Americans have made to separate from their spouse. According to researchers in the United States 40%-50% of first marriages and 60% of second marriages will end in separation (Hawkins, 2009). Married couples in the United States are finding it difficult to remain committed to their spouses and it 's resulting in many failed relationships. Unless American citizens have a major epiphany about the foundation of marriage, the high divorce rate in the United States will continue and could escalate even higher in the next few decades for a variety of reasons including religion, finances, and adultery.

As a matter of fact, about one in five women descend into poverty after divorce because of unequal wages between the two genders. If one has children, they must pay for child support, a court ordered payment to support the children of divorced families, in addition to other fees, including payment for a separate house, or apartment, and other expenses if an adult has custody, or shares custody of their children. Some will insist that this doesn’t have much of an effect on richer couples, but it’s crucial that one remembers that both of the people involved in the divorce don’t automatically stay the way they are, even if they’re rich and extremely wealthy. They won’t both maintain the same standard of living as they had before, so divorce actually does have a financial effect on everybody, no matter the richer or the poorer the person is. Essentially, the income that used to support any household now must stretch and break up to support two.

Divorce is becoming all too popular in our society today. When a couple experience tough times or have one too many arguments, they automatically think divorce. Despite its prevalence couples are not prepared for it’s long, drawn out, hurtful process. Divorce does not only hurt the individuals involved, it also affects the children tremendously. While many people don’t think divorce is a bad thing. Hollywood makes divorce look cool and uneventful. When in all reality, it is disruptive. Some people would say that divorce is a lazy way out of a marriage; the cowardly thing to do when a situation presents itself. Divorce is not the only answer to marital problems, in most cases.

This article talks about how the divorce is expensive for parents for the reason that of the tests of meeting children's economic and socioemotional needs after separation. The article used the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 1,935), and they were discovering whether probable economic and parenting costs had anything to do with divorce. This article was helpful because the author examined that mothers were the ones that expected higher financial costs than fathers, while fathers are the ones that expect more parenting difficulties.

Thesis statement- There are a variety of factors that prompt the separation of a couple as a consequence carrying a baggage of effects with them.

From past to present people all over the world have determined to live together, or “get married”. Marriage can be a beautiful thing, but some couples are unable to maintain their relationship, because they choose divorce as a solution to cope with the problems between husband and wife. Furthermore divorce is definitely on a rise. The effects of divorce can be detrimental to a family, but the causes of divorce can be just as bad. In this essay we will cover one of the main causes of divorce and one of the main effects.

It is believed that men are the least affected by divorce. However this doesn’t mean that they do not suffer at all. Indeed, men suffer financially from divorce; they are obliged to support their children as well as their ex-wives. And because before divorce the responsibility was shared by both husband and wife, divorced men cannot always afford to pay alimony, thus they may be

“DIVORCE” – Just the sound of such word in any married couple or children’s ear can cause great agony that can even become terminal. Research and personal experience, has proven that in today's society, divorce is more common amongst newlyweds. Since 2009 the rate of divorce has increased to approximately forty percent, There are three out of every ten marriage that ends up in divorce before it reaches the stage of maturity, and the most prevalent results are – lack of communication and infidelity.