Divorce : The Divorce Rate

Ever since the 1950’s, the rate of divorce has been increasing immensely to a degree that it is becoming socially acceptable. It is losing its stigma as well. Most divorces in the world have similar reasons and statistics as to why divorce is becoming more common, but also have some differences. For instance, Japan’s divorce rate is at 27% whereas Russia has a higher divorce rate around 60% due to some of the same controversial reasons. Japan’s divorce is still fairly lower than the United States and Russia because of traditional beliefs and low marriage rate whereas the other two large countries is still increasing.

As generations pass by, divorce is becoming more of a social norm than a problem between two individuals. Divorce once was a private household issue but it became widespread only a couple of decades ago. According to the statistics, in the 1950s only 3% of families got divorced and in the 1960s it was already 10%. In the 1980s, 33% of families opted for divorce due to various environmental factors. Recent studies in Canada today, show that the rate of divorce is changing to an extent such that 4 in 10 marriages end in separation. Divorce is a sensitive concept which lies beyond two individuals simply falling out of love as is both the cause and an effect. The many factors that contribute to divorce are extramarital affairs, financial struggles, and the lack of communication.

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.

The effects of divorce on the American culture are immense. Social scientists have been studying these effects for many years now. The studies are continuing to confirm that the climbing rate of divorce in the American culture is hurting the society and also frequently devastating the lives of many American children. There are many areas in which divorce has a negative effect in the life of a child or an adult. Many of these effects also directly correlate to the effect on a society. However, there is hope. Although divorce is being more widely recognized as being harmful to both our culture and to the individuals involved, there are many ways that we as a culture can seek to reduce this harm and attain our goal of being a culture

The husband and wife would support one another and would overcome obstacles, whether it was financial or emotional conflicts. Real culture began to surface later on when divorce was deemed legal, when divorce slowly became the norm. “As social historian Barbara Dafoe Whitehead has observed of this period, ‘divorce was not only an individual right but also a psychological resource. The dissolution of marriage offered the chance to make oneself over from the inside out, to refurbish and express the inner self, and to acquire certain valuable psychological assets and competencies, such as initiative, assertiveness, and a stronger and better self-image (Wilcox 2009).” This became common thinking in society during the 1960’s and 1970’s when the meaning of divorce blossomed into a new perspective.

There are, undoubtedly, a number of causes for divorce. Divorce used to be considered scandalous and immoral. This contributed to many marriages surviving despite strains. However, as divorce becomes more common, the more natural and expectable it seems. The number of divorces per year per1000 people in the U.S. has been declining since hitting our highest point in1981. (“divorce_ rate”) The United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world. As a, couple’s relationship, marriages are more

The divorce rate in America has been fifty percent for the last thirty years. For those who had already gone through a separation. The number was closer to sixty percent. That is because history tends to repeat itself. Now take a closer look at annulment and its history. What causes dissolution to happen? What are the common reasons for a split up between couples? Does separating affect the children? In what ways might children be affected by a split up? Divorce is ugly business with many causes for it; it also causes many problems, usually by affecting the people involved; The ones usually affected the most are children; and they can develop many issues from divorce.

Why did divorce rates raise concistently in the late 1960s and the 1970s and then stabilize at relatively high ranks in the 1980s? There is no simple explanation for high divorce rates, but several contributing factors stand out (Cherlin, 1992; L, K, White, 1990). One was chances in the divorce laws; no-fault divorce made it easier and faster to end a marriage. The movement of women into the labor force was another factor – in part because jobs made women feel freer to divorce and in part because two-worker families may experience more role conflicts than breadwinner-housewife families. At the same time, men’s position in the labor force was impaired; middle-class men wrestled to keep the relatively high standard of living their parents enjoyed;

The divorce revolution that begun during the 60s and 70s made away for people to no longer view marriages as the prisms of duty, obligation, and sacrifice, (Wilcox, 2009). During the divorce revolution the fault based divorce was eliminated; in 1969 the Governor of California signed the nation’s first bill for the No-Fault Divorce Law. The No-Fault Divorce Law eradicated the need for a married couple to fabricate spousal transgression to divorce their spouse, instead it eliminated the legal bonding power of the husband and wife, which allowed either of them to dissolve the marriage for any reasons or without a reason at all (Wilcox,

“Divorce isn’t such a tragedy. A tragedy’s staying in an unhappy marriage, teaching your children the wrong things about love. Nobody ever died of divorce,” states Jennifer Weiner, a New York Times Bestselling author, in her novel, Fly Away Home. Although Weiner has a point in voicing that a dispirited and forlorn relationship can corrupt the innocent mentality of children, it is vital that she also considers the darker, more sinister side of divorce. To put the term ‘divorce’ simply, it “is what husband and wife do together when they no longer wish to do anything together“ (Yantiss). If for any reason one may feel as if their current marriage isn’t right, isn’t working out, for them, one way to solve that problem would be divorce: the

Divorce can have a minimal impact on society economically. Divorced women are more likely to work as a result of economic necessity, especially if there are children involved. Women have greater responsibility, after a divorced, because they are now the primary caregiver, in additional with child care cost as an added factor. Often time’s women and children of divorce become victims to government aid in assistance with government grants. Some of these grants include housing vouchers, medical insurance, transportation, and child care. After a breakup, household incomes drop as much as 15 percent, while higher poverty rates increase (Wolfinger, N, 2005). Although legislation proposals suggest marital classes approved by the department of human services, would aid in reconciliation of marriage.

The topic of divorce, for many decades, has been a topic that fell into the domain of taboo. In more recent years, society within the united states has brought the topic into the limelight by desensitizing the term. Thus, the divorce rates in the US have went up. However, a divorce has both positive and negative implications. Also, there have been backlashes against divorce, but there has also been a positive feedback system employed to aid in the process that surround divorce. The partitioning between the political parties can be further exemplified in topic of divorce.

People in America are determined to get married and live together. Married couples want to share everything and depend on each other. However, fifty percent of these couples cannot seem to fulfill their marriage vows. As a result, they choose to get a divorce. Divorce is very easy to do nowadays unlike the past. Statistics show that the four main causes of divorce are: financial difficulty, women are more independent, infidelity, and couples are getting married at a young age.

The sanctity of marriage has seemed to have disappeared with the arrival of the 21st century. Though marriage rates have always fluctuated in the past, current events have caused divorce rates to increase. According to recent statistics made by the census bureau, the divorce rate in America is roughly 50 percent. There are a myriad of speculations as to why more people are not staying together. One reason is that people are getting married for the wrong reasons, such as unplanned pregnancies. Another reason is that women have become more independent so that they are not forced in to being in a marriage where they are not happy. Last, lenient divorce laws make it much easier for many couples to get divorced. Combined, these three

In the last 25 years, divorce has become a major issue in American society. Since the turn of the century, the divorce rate has held steady between 4.0-3.2 divorces per 1000 people per year (National Vital Statistics System, 2015). With this rising divorce rate, more children are living between parents, or in single family homes, and many of these children have been exposed to altercations between parents, as well as rough custody battles and divorce settlements. Traumatic experiences like these are highly likely to stick with children of divorce throughout their life, especially if the child is older at the time of the divorce.