Why Divorce Is Not Be So Permanent? Divorce

When our friends and family marry, the ultimate goal is “Till Death Do Us Part”, however, contrary to popular belief half of marriages end in divorce. This statistic has been proven to be accurate for the last 40 years. Due to the large number of divorces, they are a lot more acceptable than they once were. Now becoming a societal norm. Divorces are now a part of everyday life. This ethical shift has impacted a lot of people, mostly the children. Figuring out why most Americans are choosing divorce over marriage counseling will depend on many generalization factors.

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.

Growing up children are surrounded with a fairy tale life, the ‘happily ever after.’ As girls we are supposed to wait for our prince charming and he will love us forever; and for boys it is finding and rescuing a beautiful princess who can cook, clean, and is loved by all creatures. That is what marriage is based off of as a child, but that perspective changes once we get a small grasp of the concept of love and we really see what marriage is. Marriage is not something anyone goes into lightly and maybe our expectations of the fairy tale life are why divorce is so commonly sought.

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.

Divorce is such a personal and common thing in America. There are so many couples who go through the act of divorce every day. According to Kanewicher and Harris (2014), forty to fifty percent of couples will end in divorce within the first few years of marriage. Divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body. There are many factors that may lead couples into divorce. Some of those factors are, marrying too young, low education levels and overall just lack of preparation (Kanewischer, 2015). Although divorce is common now, it was not like this back in the late 1900’s. Divorce was not allowed and most of the time people did not want to get divorce because of all the time and effort they put into their marriage.

In the chart about the figure of marriages and divorces in the USA, the number of divorces increased sharply from 1 million people to approximately 1,5 in 1980. However, The number fall to over 1 in 1990 and continued to decreased to the same number with 1970 in 2000 ( 1 million people). in stark contrast, however, the proportion of people getting married remained at 2,5 in 1980 but this number fall to around 2,25 in 1990 and decreased slightly to 2 in 2000. nevertheless, the percentage of people getting married still made up more people than people in divorce in the period from 1970 to 2000.

Our society has become nonchalant about the dynamics of divorce. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, co-director of the Rutgers University National Marriage Project, “Divorce is now part of everyday American life” (Sheehan-Johnson & Paine, 2013). In Brian Orchard’s 2011 article, A Culture of Divorce first marriages have 45 percent chance of breaking up and second marriages are given 60 percent chance of being unsuccessful (Orchard, 2011). Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and Brian Orchard both agree marriage and divorce have changed due to the relationships within the family structure. Whitehead states, “Americans began to change their ideas about the individual’s obligations to family and society” (Sheehan-Johnson & Paine, 2013). Women became more independent during the

For my research project, I would like to explore the evolution of divorce/marriage and the consequences it has on todays society. In todays society the definition of family has dramatically changed, both by structure and by definition. Divorce is now the norm. Today in the United States it is believed that the divorce rate hovers at about 50% and that one of every six adults divorces two or more times. Why has this become normal, and what can we do to fix this? I believe that by taking a step back and focusing on marriage, and really knowing who your marrying, we could see a significant drop in divorce and the problems developing in each generation. Divorce is never something to be taken lightly. In this paper I will examine the unfolding of divorce and how it evolved into what it is today, therefore shed some light on possibilities to undercut the still rising divorce rate.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2011 there were 2,118,000 marriages in the United States and almost half as many divorces (2013). The CDC also reports that only half of all first marriages will reach their twentieth anniversary. Divorce is a topic everyone is familiar with and it has almost become a normal part of life. While it is assumed that more divorces occur now than in the previous generation, the CDC actually reports that divorce rates have dropped over the past twenty to thirty years, though this could be due to the increase in individuals who live together without ever getting married or those who simply separate and cannot afford to become legally divorced. However, it has become a more

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

Throughout the last half of the century, our society has watched the divorce rate of married couples skyrocket to numbers previously not seen. Although their has been a slight decline in divorce rates, “half of first marriages still were expected to dissolve before death.” (Stacy, 15, 1991) Whatever happened to that meaningful exchange of words, “until death do us part,” uttered by the bride and groom to each other on their wedding day? What could have been the cause of such inflated divorce rates? Perhaps young married couples are not mature enough to be engaged in such a trremendous responsibility, or, maybe, the couples really do not know each other as well as they thought. Possibly, they have been blinded by infatuation rather than by

Building on research conducted in prior decades, family scholars have continued to document the major risk factors for divorce. These factors include marrying as a teenager, being poor, experiencing unemployment, having a low level of education, living with one's future spouse or another partner prior to marriage, having a premarital birth, bringing children from a previous union into a new marriage (especially among mothers), marrying someone of a different race, being in a second- or higher order marriage, and growing up in a household without two continuously married parents (Amato & DeBoer, 2001; Bramlett & Mosher, 2002; Bratter & King, 2008; Sweeney & Phillips, 2004; Teachman, 2002).

“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.

I am not in any way saying that marriage is easy and I believe divorce rates are increasingly high because our generation and those past are becoming accustomed to the eases of today’s lifestyle, the marriages that last are the ones that truly understand the commitment that is being made not just seeing it as the final step in a relationship because this is not in any way true. The advancement of a relationship doesn’t end with marriage or children, after all there is a lifetime ahead of you with the person you have married, there will be trials and some of the most difficult times of your life. Marriage requires a commitment to fall in love with that person over and over again each day.