Divorce Rate Today Compared To 1980

Many people may say that the divorce rate in America is rising, but is it really? Since 1980, the divorce rate has been declining. In the past, a new feminist movement caused divorce rate to increase in the 1980s. The movement caused social and economic upheaval from many people. In the 50s and 60s, marriage was all about a breadwinner husband and a homemaker wife that didn’t spend much time together but needed the others contributions to the household but did not necessarily spend much time together. The movement started when women started entering the workforce, the chores at home became automated and they gained reproductive rights. The couples that married before the movement suffered the most because they were not used to what was happening. These people were married to the right person post war culture but the wrong person after the times changed. Today, society has changed and the divorce rate has declined again. Marriage has adapted to modern day times and is based on love, shared passion, often two incomes, and shared housekeeping duties. Around 70 percent of the marriages that began in the 90 have reached their 15th anniversary compared to about 65 percent of those that began in the 70s and 80s. The divorce rate peaked at 5.3 divorces per thousand people in 1981, before falling to 4.7 in 1990, and it has fallen further to 3.6 in 2011.  The divorce rates for couples that have married in the 2000s are declining at an even higher rate. The annual marriage rate per 1,000 people compared to the annual divorce rate.  The many reasons for divorce rates declining include later marriages and birth control. Other reasons for the decline of divorce rates are because fewer people are getting married, some of the biggest declines in marriage have come from groups at rise of divorce, and the fear of divorce.  There is also a delay in marriage that allows people more time to understand what they want in a partner and to find one. The median age for marriage in 1890 was 26 for men and 22 for women. By the 1950s, it had dropped to 23 for men and 20 for women. In 2004, it climbed to 27 for men and 26 for women. We all know someone that has seen their parents’ marriage end in divorce and many people have experience more than one divorce. In fact divorce increases the risk of interpersonal problems in children. Many of these children have problems that are long lasting and become worse during adulthood. Basically the divorce surge is over, yet the myth is still alive. Marriages in the country have been stronger than they have been in a long time. Divorce is not the problem. The rise in the divorce rate is only a symptom. The real cause is dysfunctional relationships. We are encouraged to get married, start a family, settle down, etc. But we are not taught what a relationship involves and how to make a marriage a home for happiness.

Link 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-is-over-but-the-myth-lives-on.html?abt=0002&abg=0&_r=0

Link 2: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/upshot/how-we-know-the-divorce-rate-is-falling.html?abt=0002&abg=1

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