Preview

The Cause Of Divorce In The United States

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
556 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Cause Of Divorce In The United States
The Cause of Divorce
In today’s world, marriage is a common institution. Unfortunately, divorce is also a common practice in today’s world as well. Divorce rates are currently at an all-time high, with half of all marriages ending in break ups. Although each divorce is different, there appear to be four main causes, which include: changes in the roles of women, modern stress, lack of communication, and substance abuse.
One major cause of the recent rise in divorce rates is a social one. In the United States, the gender roles of women are growing more and more obsolete. In the past, men were the sole earners of the family income, while women were responsible for maintaining the household. Because of this, women were unable to support themselves

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Another large part of the increase in divorce rate is the change of women’s position. Since there have been improvements in women’s economic positions it has allowed them to become less financially dependant on their husbands and therefore easier to end an unsatisfactory marriage. The proportion of women working rose from 47% in 1959, to 70% in 2005. The pay gap between men and women has also been narrowed, girls have greater success in education and get better jobs and the availability of welfare benefits mean women don’t need to remain financially dependent on their husbands. These developments and improvement mean that women are more likely to be able to support themselves in the event of…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Over the past forty years marriage, divorce and cohabitation rates have fluctuated significantly. For example, the number of divorces has increased from 27,000 in 1961 to 153,000 by 2006, whilst the Telegraph newspaper reported that ‘one in six people are cohabiting as marriage rates decline’. Why is this? There are multiple reasons for these varying statistics.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Popenoe

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Women are more likely than men to want a divorce, and more women are divorced than men. That is because men are more likely to remarry than women and do so at a faster rate. There has been a moderate drop in couples that have been “very happy” in their marriage in recent decades. People are more content than happy in their relationships. Since the 1970’s when the No Fault Divorce Law was put into place, there was a large spike in divorce rates because people could divorce for no reason at all, and many divorced because they were not satisfied or happy in marriage. Geographic location is a factor in divorce. For instance, the East has a far lower divorce rate than the South or West. That can be attributed for the cultural differences between the geographic areas. Popenoe and Whitehead stated there are six factors that can help lower a person’s chance at divorce, “ So if you are a reasonably well-educated person with a decent income, come from an intact family and are religious, and marry after age twenty-five without having a baby first, your chances of divorce are very low indeed,” (25). Divorce has become a common part of today’s society.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The divorce rate in America for first marriages is 41 percent, second marriages is 60 percent, and third marriages is 73 percent. (Gozich) Leo Gozich is the president of National Association of Marriage Enhancement and has studied the topic of divorce for many years. In his article, he includes, “Over the last 27 years, since no-fault divorce legislation swept across the nation like a tidal wave, America has witnessed a 279 percent increase in the divorce rate; and the fallout for families and society has been tragic.” When contemplating divorce, these couples made life changing decisions. Divorces occur for innumerable reasons differing in each marriage circumstance. Couples often think their problems are temporary,…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    trend analysis paper

    • 2568 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When considering the stereotype of the typical young girl, most consider one who plans her wedding from the time that she is young; picking out her dress, shoes, even the ring that will one day grace her finger. They dream of the husband that they will one day walk down the aisle towards, following a trail of rose petals. Next come the images of starting a family, and growing old together side by side until “death do [they] part.” Unfortunately, those dreams manifested within the young ladies of today are being shattered by the looming threat of divorce that now ends approximately half of the marriages in the United States. Married couples experience numerous perks that are forfeited by divorce, including on average, higher levels of wealth, safety, and even health. The forces driving people to absolve their holy matrimony are both vast and varied between couples, depending on their unique situation. Legal, religious, and social expectations have become less strict, and the improving economy has allowed for easier transition out of a marriage; however, the effects of divorce can be crippling to young children as well as the adults involved. The divorce rate rose to the highest peak in 1980, but thankfully is now on a steady decline. Although the rate is going down, it is still twice as high as it was in 1960, and has quite a way to go before it reaches a tolerable level. After the peak in the 1980s, the decline in the divorce rate has been a relief, and without its continuation in the future, divorce will continue to distress the institution of marriage and its prospects.…

    • 2568 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As can be seen with the statistics, each change in law has made divorce more available and has led to a spike in divorce rates suggesting a correlation, between the two. However, sociologists would not all agree that this is the primary reason for the trends. Feminists would argue that changes in the position of women, for example improvements in their economic situation have had a large impact. Now, 70% of women are in paid work, compared to 49% in 1965. Subsequently, women are less likely to be financially dependent on their husbands and thus freer to end an unhappy marriage. Feminists also argue that women work triple-shifts within households, leading to conflict and leading to more divorces. Seventy percent of divorces are instigated by women, perhaps a reflection of the changing position of women in society and them no longer feeling the ‘need’ to be married, and perhaps a great influence in the increasing…

    • 576 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Divorce is something that has become more common in today’s civilization. It’s happening all over the world but mostly in the United States of America. Most marriages that have fail in the last 5 years have not succeeded have resulted in divorce. In earlier periods in life divorce was considered shocking and terrible, whereas in today’s world it’s accepted. Divorce has become acceptable in society for numerous reasons and will continue to be accepted. Though, many think divorce is frowned upon, it’s more acceptable in society because the images portrayed by the media, the morals of marriage have changed and because it’s no firm divorce requirements.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    American Divorce Culture

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Divorce has become the norm within the American Culture of this era and research suggests that it cannot be avoided. In the story of “The Making of a Divorce Culture” author Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, claims how divorce rates have drastically increased and has changed the view of the American family. In today’s society marriages are ending in divorce because couples find the easy way out, and choose not to work on their marriage, which can eventually affect their children’s lives.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although divorce has always been a part of American culture, it has skyrocketed in the last few decades, reaching an all time high of 50% of all marriages ending in separation. Our culture has changed its view on divorce throughout the years and now accepts divorce in society. In the past, divorce was forbidden. People did not discuss the issue as openly as we do today. In the past, divorce was never shown in the media and was looked down on. Today’s culture has shaped divorce into a more positive decision and has made it relatively easy to file for a separation. With all the hype about marriage and living the American dream, I often wonder what has influenced such an increase in the divorce rate over the last…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In my work with individuals and couples for the last 43 years, I've had two very different experiences regarding people who have divorced:…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of Divorce

    • 922 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In today's society, divorce is more the norm than ever before although nobody marries with expectation of failure. Married couples never contemplate that the person they once loved could later seem to be a stranger and perhaps even an enemy. The last decades have shown a rise in the rate of divorce. The United States has the highest divorce rate in the western world. Divorce rates among marriages have rose from 479 in 1965 to 1,187 in 1993. What has caused such an increase in divorce among marriages? Possible solutions to this question would be infidelity, drinking and/or drug abuse, and lack of communication.…

    • 922 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of Divorce

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Whatever happened to that meaningful exchange of words, “till death do us part," said by the bride and groom to each other on their wedding day? Many couples agree to remain with their partner until death when they say the words “I do”, but many marriages will end with a divorce instead of death. Although, some problems in a marriage can be resolved through many ways including counseling sometimes the only solution is by parting ways. While no couple wishes for a divorce there are some causes for getting a divorce. Primary causes of divorce can include lack of communication, financial problems, cheating, and women changing roles.…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Young women can look forward to a better quality of life than before. Do you agree?…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The second common cause of divorce is financial problems. Spending too much, secret spending, Budget problems and penny pitching are a few of the financial problems that couples have and again not communicating effects it. Financial problems cause a lot of stress in your marriage and if it is not dealt with, than it will cause problems at the end. The Last common cause for divorce is lust. Man/women meet a man/woman and really like what they see and not realizing it is lust, finalizes that he/she loves her/him. Post marriage, the real situation unfolds and the marriage crashes. The couple concludes that they fell out of love, when they were never in love in the beginning…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are three main causes of divorce: changing in woman’s roles, stress in modern living, and lack of communication. The first significant cause of recent rise in the rates of divorce is a woman’s role being completely changed. In the past, men had to earn all the money to afford the expenses of the family, whereas woman only did housework. That led to the woman having no money which meant she had to depend on the man. Since the man was making all the money it was hard for most women to separate from their husbands. Now women have obtained more equality in the relationship and began to work and support themselves. One of the main things people do when they feel great chemistry between one another is get married. Some couples are unable to maintain their relationship and they get a divorce; which is one of the solutions to solve the problems between husband and wife. Most people think carefully before they get married however the divorce rates are continuously increasing.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays