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 likely to be broken by divorce than death. (“rutgers. edu”) Currently 40% (“divorcereform”) of all marriages end in divorce.
What are the reasons for this destruction of the American family? Some analysts attribute economic and social changes in recent decades as reasons for the rise in divorce. As World War II raged on an increasing numbers of women entered the labor force, From 1940 to 1944 over 6 million women joined the workforce filling jobs that had been exclusively male. (“chicago to go”) They never returned to being homemakers. These, Rosie the Riveter, women became less economically dependent on men and marriage for financial security. Women in unhappy marriages found that they could divorce and still support themselves.
These economic changes were followed by social changes. As a result divorce became more expectable, cheaper, and easier to obtain. People today think that the primary purpose of marriage is to fulfill emotional needs. In the past, people married for practical reasons such as companionship or financial security. Today, Americans are likely to end a marriage when emotional needs are not being met. As an institution marriage has lost much of its legal, religious, and social meaning. (“rutgers. edu”) So how this breakdown of the American family influences individuals is a question of much concern.
The mother, who often gets custody, will have to seek a job out side of the home. This is because child support is inadequate. The children make more demands on her because their father is absent. She has little time for a social life. Finances are strained. Fathers also have a large burden to bear. He may be seeing his children, but in all probability, they will not seek him out for advice, help, or support. Recently there has been an increase in the number of fathers who are awarded custody of their children, 25 percent in the last three years and 75 percent in the last ten years, and is continuing to rise.
In fact, families headed by a single father are growing faster than any other family group in the nation. (“manslife”) Men suffer a similar fate in this situation as women, with increased financial and emotional strain. Still another effect, for the children of divorce is, what they experience becomes a part of their inner world. As these young men and women face the task of creating their own relationships, they mostly lack the template for a loving connection between a man and a woman. New families being formed by children of divorce appear to be particularly vulnerable.
It is here the cycle repeats. The United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world around 40%. (“divorcereform”) The number of divorces per year per 1000 people in the U. S. has been declining since hitting our highest point in1981. (“divorce_ rate”) Divorces used to be considered and scandalous and immoral. All marriages are susceptible to divorce, with financial independence, social acceptance, and the lack of a template for a loving connection; I feel that the family institution may be as weak or weaker that it has ever been before.