1. Nine out of ten Americans are married at least once in their lives, but increasingly those marriages end in divorce. Measuring divorce rates is not an easy task; a valid divorce race must compare the number of divorces in one year with the total number of existing marriages during that year, but even this measure has its problems. Historical trends in the rate of divorce are affected by life expectancy patterns and by legal restrictions. The most effective measurement procedure would be to follow a representative sample of Americans from the year they marry until they die, noting the participants age at marriage, length of marriage, and frequency of remarriage.
2. Despite questions of measurement accuracy, divorce rates cant help rising. One explanation is that values have shifted from an emphasis on self-sacrifice and duty to an emphasis on individual satisfaction. Today, if a marriage becomes troubled, the partners are more likely to end it and to try to find personal satisfaction elsewhere; they are less likely to stick together and try to make it work. Also, loosing religious and legal restrictions has made it easier to get divorced. Finally, the changing roles of women have contributed to higher divorce rates; more women than before are economically less dependent on men, and it is easier now for a single woman to be accepted socially.
3. Several characteristics of married couples increase the likelihood of divorce: 1) they live in an urban area; 2) both partners work, but neither income is high; 3) they married young, but have not been married long; 4) they have a young child; 5) the wife has egalitarian attitudes about the household division of labour, but the husband does not; 6) the couple has weak religious convictions; 7) they have liberal outlooks but are pessimistic; and 8) one or both partners have parents who are divorced.
4. The consequences of divorce for children can be devastating unless both parents remain available for love and emotional support. This often is not the case, however, because the divorced partners use so much of their emotional energy in trying to adjust to their new status. Many children of divorced parents are intensely unhappy with their family lives; one study reported that teenage boys living with their now-single mothers often become abusive, demanding, and unaffectionate. Still, the pains of divorce for children seem to lessen with time; in those cases where both parents are consistently supportive and understanding, the children often adjust in a healthy, satisfying way.
IX. .
1. What are historical trends in the rate of divorce affected by?
2. What factors have made divorce easier?
3. How does divorce affect children?
X. .
1. Measuring divorce rates is an easy task.
2. Changing roles of women have contributed to higher divorce rates.
3. Divorce affect boys more than girls.
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