Should Divorce Rates Increase Over Time?

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 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.

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 is one of life’s most stressful experiences. Everyone involved has a unique experience with divorce. I interviewed a sixty year old female, Sandra, who has been divorced from Randy for almost five years. They were married for thirty-six years and have two children, Mandy and Mark. Mandy is married to my uncle, so I was not interviewing a complete stranger. Sandra was very willing to talk to me about her divorce. While they did not go to premarital counseling, have a premarital pregnancy, or cohabitate, there were risk factors. After dating just three months, they married when she was nineteen and he was twenty-two. Early marriage is noted to be “the most adverse demographic risk for marital instability” (Hetherington, 2003, p.328). I will discuss the interview and my thoughts on her divorce based on Bohannan’s six stages of divorce.

American family has declined drastically due to the high rates of divorce. This factor is being considered one of the biggest issues in the society. According to the current Divorce Rate-U.S.A. statistics point out that the divorce rate in the U.S.A. is the highest in the world, and

In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many

There are many facets to all divorces. Why did a divorce happen, who is affected, and how do you move on? All of these questions are at the forefront of not only the couple’s mind, but also their families. Answering the question of who is more likely to get divorced is a way to dive in to see why divorce happens and whom it affects. Next, diving in even deeper to issues of divorce, the question of how children are affected plays a large role in the problem of many divorced families. Children can have many different reactions to a divorce that can trouble them for their entire lifetime, not just the few years after making a family adjustment. Finally, divorce takes on a negative connotation in our society and rightly so; however, people fail to recognize that the divorce rates of America are actually decreasing since the 1970s and 1980s. Although divorces are still to frequent in America, it is encouraging to know that the sanctity of marriage is still engrained in our society, and thankfully over the next decades we can hopefully see an even greater decline in divorce rates.

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

In the United States alone, hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of families are affected by divorce each year. Divorce is a high-stress process which may affect parent’s abilities to provide for their children. Whether there is lack of support emotionally, mentally, financially, or physically; a child can be very critically damaged. A child is continuously developing mentally, emotionally, and academically. There are different stages of adolescence that cause different ages of children to react to divorce in several ways. Children put in these situations have higher risk of suffering academically, mentally, and emotionally. Issues relating to divorce can follow the effected party in to adulthood. They show different forms of behavioral change. The needs for every child can be met through simple changes in lifestyle if the persons involved educate themselves.

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.

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.

Divorce can effect many things that happened in a person’s life. Many of the research done today focuses on the effect of divorce on work and finances; things that effect a person’s wellbeing for their future. However, not many research done on divorce discusses what happens to the family system in a family as a result of divorce, including the effect it has on the many relationships that make up the family. After researching the affects of divorce on relationships, it has become clear that relationships in the family decline in each relationship that makes up the family. What has not been prominent until now is that these relationships continue to decline as the children of divorced families become adults. The five articles reviewed in this

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.

Divorce is a plague that is destroying numerous families across the United States of America. Sadly, when husbands and wives divorce, the children are often caught directly in the middle. Throughout the years divorce has been becoming more and more common. In the 1920's it was a rare find to know a person whom had been divorced, today it is a rarity not to know of one who has been, or will be divorced. Divorce has numerous effects on the structures of families, and many devastating effects on the children that must experience it, although sometimes necessary, divorce radically changes the lives of adolescents and adults alike.

Divorce has become a natural aspect of today’s culture, and formidable divorce rates are drastically impacting children, causing them to lose many vital components of a stable childhood. A broken family will become a normal circumstance for that child and they may fall in the same trap later in life (WF—Lawyers np). Divorce can occur for many reasons, such as lack of commitment, constant arguments, and early marriage (WF—Lawyers np). These problems take a role in the majority of divorces, however, solving these major issues through fixing broken relationships has its benefits. Society, unfortunately, shows us that we must replace broken items rather than fix them. Maintaining healthy households and strong family values through the mending