trend analysis paper

DIVORCE IN THE UNITED STATES
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. Throughout history, divorce has evolved to become less of a scandal, and increasingly common among Americans. Divorce was originally considered a sin by the church, and was incredibly rare until the latter half of the twentieth century. During the 1960s and ‘70s, the divorce revolution began the slow change in the viewpoint of the church, since “the anti-institutional tenor of the age also meant that churches lost much of their moral authority to reinforce the marital vow” (Wilcox 82). The movement even pushed the United Methodist Church to release a statement reading “we encourage an active, accepting and enabling commitment of the Church and our society to minister to the needs of divorced persons” (Wilcox 82). The church began to realize that if they couldn’t stop divorce, they could at least help the families affected by it, especially the children of divorced parents. The church continued to encourage counseling and the attempts to make marriage work before resorting to a divorce, however they began to recognize divorce and the liberty of the divorcees to get remarried if they so desired. To the church, especially the Protestant Episcopal communion and Roman church, marriage is considered a sacrament (“Why Divorce Is…” 51), which makes it understandable why the church took such a long time to become accepting of divorce and its legal defilement of such a decision.
Divorce truly became a common occurrence after World War II, and especially prominent after the Divorce Reform Act of 1969. Before the war, women typically married men an average of four years older than them. Marrying an older man typically meant that the man had a higher education level, and made the higher income in the household. That left women very limited in their abilities to leave, so most were forced to remain married. Around the time of the war, the age difference between married couples dropped to an average of only three years, and recently women have begun to marry at a slightly older age. That age difference allows women to further educate themselves before getting married, and creating a better chance for them to leave a marriage and maintain a financial stability on their own. (“Why Divorce Is…” 50). Just as the war made it easier for couples to nullify marriage, as did the Divorce Reform Act of 1969. It allowed for couples to divorce after two years of separation, and once their marriage was deemed irreversibly broken, they were allowed to divorce without being required to prove “fault”. The first no-fault divorce bill was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan of California, beginning the biggest spike in divorce rates than ever before. In the 1980s, the divorce rate nearly doubled what it had previously been, however, over the past 60 years it has been slowly declining. Even with the decline, the divorce rate today is still almost double what it was in 1960, with between 40 and 50 percent of newlyweds currently facing the probability of either separation or divorce (Popenoe and Whitehead 22). Out of that percentage, approximately 20 percent will occur within the first five years of marriage. (Campbell and Wright 337). With percentages like these, it puts the United States at the top of the list, with the highest divorce rate “in the industrialized world; by comparison, Canada and most Western European nations have rates of 2.0 per 1,000, and Spain’s rate is only 0.6” (“Why Divorce Is…” 49). Although the divorce rate is declining in the United States, it is currently unknown when or if levels will ever reach as low as those of Canada or Spain. Divorce over the years has become more of a social norm, and an increasing part of everyday life in the American society due to many reasons. An example of this would be the divorce laws allowing less consequence to fall upon both parties in the legal process. The no-fault law has essentially removed the legal power from the institution of marriage, and allows “one spouse to dissolve a marriage for any reason- or for no reason at all” (Wilcox 81). The laws make divorce “easier to attain, more culturally acceptable, and less psychologically distressing” (Campbell and Wright 339). Lawyers began advertising for “while-you-wait” divorces, contributing to the difference in the number of divorced individuals from 1970 up to 1996, from only 4 million to 18 million (“Why Divorce Is…” 50). No-fault laws were undoubtedly responsible for the large rise in divorce beginning in 1970. Another reason the divorce rate rose to such a high level, would be the change in the purpose of marriage, due to the stigmas that have become less strict and have made it more socially and religiously acceptable to get divorced. As churches began to allow divorces, it undermined the idea of marriage as a moral commitment between two people under God, intended to last a lifetime. This coincided with the revolution of thinking within the American people after the war, where prior, a perfect marriage was considered to be between two people with a shared religious faith, maintaining a sustained household and decent income. That idea shifted after the war to more of a self-fulfilling purpose, with the goal of happiness gained from the relationship with the spouse. People stopped prioritizing the children, and began entering and parting a marriage based on their idea of their soul-mate (Wilcox 83-84). As people began focusing more on finding their soul-mates, they found marriage as an obstacle in their way, and caused the inflation of the divorce rate. The economy is an additional influential factor surrounding divorce rates, since the improvement of the economy made divorce a more affordable option. Divorce was originally only available to the rich, since it was so expensive. With a good economy, it allows more and more couples of different social classes to afford a divorce. This reason could also be used as an explanation of why the divorce rate has been going down lately, considering the recent recession. As the economy improves, it doesn’t only make the fees of divorce more affordable, but it also gives both adults a better chance at remaining financially stable once they are no longer financially linked (“Why Divorce Is…” 50). As long as the economy is improving, the divorce rate will continue to rise. Infidelity and abuse in couples can obliterate trust in a relationship and cause reason for divorce. After the initial “honeymoon stage” of elation in newlyweds, couples begin to become more comfortable around each other, allowing parts of their personalities that may not have been evident before, to show through. These personality traits that emerge can cause “disappointment, loss of love and, ultimately, distress and divorce” (Patz 66). An unfortunate consequence of these feelings is the infidelity that occurs when one partner decides to look for happiness and fulfillment elsewhere. It has been reported that around 21 percent of women and 32 percent of men are unfaithful at least once in their marriage (Campbell and Wright 334). Another result of learning the true colors of a marriage partner could be abuse, if one’s distress becomes too much for them to handle. After enough time passes, adultery and abuse are bound to lead to divorce once the stress becomes too great on the marriage, and/or conscious of the guilty partner(s).
A height in the divorce rate causes many negative effects on society and its members. One example of this is how divorce can cause numerous long-lasting psychological issues for the children involved. When children have to watch their parents drift apart and eventually divorce because of their unhappiness in their marriage, or to be with someone else, “the kids’ faith in love, commitment, and marriage is often shattered” (Wilcox 85). Children with divorced parents have a higher chance of getting divorced themselves, since they learned from example (Campbell and Wright 339). Children who experience the trauma of a divorce typically have a harder time in school and even have a higher chance of dropping out of high school, ranging from 60 to 120 percent. Children who grow up in single-parent homes are also more likely to get sick, have asthma, speech impairments, and even get in legal trouble. (“Why Divorce Is…” 52). Children subjective to the conflicts of their parents may even begin to use the same strategies demonstrated by their parents during a conflict (Riggio and Fite 2936). The list doesn’t end there, because children who grow up in unmarried or divorced families on average spend “at least one year in dire poverty” (Popenoe and Whitehead 21). Divorce negatively affects the children involved, in such a strong way, that it will affect the rest of their lives, and the way they handle their future relationships.
The adults in a divorce also suffer from serious problems, such as work difficulties, poorer relationships with their children, and emotional distress. When a divorce is being considered, counseling is normally suggested, and even initiated by “more the sensitive person” (Cuthbert). The person who pushes for a solution other than divorce is the one who hurts the worst, and for these individuals, “the sting of an unjust divorce can lead to downward emotional spirals, difficulties at work, and serious deteriorations in the quality of their relationships with their children” (Wilcox 86). The stress on those who are parenting children is significantly worse, since they have to consider how they will provide for their children. This is especially true for women, who are used to being the homemaker, and the man paying the bills. When they become divorced and lose that source of income, “homemakers often cannot find decent jobs to support their families” (Bennetts 42), leading to the statistic that “single mothers earn up to 44% less” (Bennetts 43). Children are not the only ones who suffer from the trauma of divorce, adults do as well.
In the future, the divorce rate is expected to continue to gradually decline. The economy will continue to improve, however considering the recent recession, it will not improve enough to thwart the downward path of the divorce rate. Up until the year 2015, “It is expected that the divorce rate will decline further” (Bohun-Chudyniv, et al. 6), except the single parent households will continue to rise. The single parent households won’t rise because of the divorce rate, but rather due to the rise in the favor of cohabitation over marriage. Another factor that will reduce divorce rates will be the fear of AIDS, causing many to be more sexually conservative, and reducing both marriage and divorce rates (Bohun-Chudyniv, et al. 6).
The divorce rate will decline due to the time Americans have had in order to adapt to the soul- mate movement. The change from marrying for financial and social gain to the hunt for one true love occurred long enough ago, that Americans have gotten used to the idea. Originally, it was used as an excuse to terminate a marriage, claiming that it was not meant to be, and that they had to look for that one person that was made just for them. Now that the fairytale story has been around long enough, rather than getting married and then deciding that their husband or wife was not ‘the one’, people will take their time searching for that person before getting married. Waiting will cause the average age of marriage to increase, allowing couples to be more financially stable and further educated, and in turn, prompt the divorce rates to continue to go down.
The high divorce rate is a great indicator of the well-being of a society, and can be useful in finding solutions to issues within its members. Higher divorce rates means higher poverty, government spending, and a more unstable community. Although divorce becomes a viable option when there is a decent economy, that doesn’t mean that the economy will always remain that way. Single parents begin to struggle when the economy goes down again, causing higher levels of poverty. When the divorce rate is high, that means there are more single parent households, and more individuals who are dealing with the psychological aftermath of the trauma of a divorce. Those individuals become threats to society, when they are struggling with obedience to authority, obeying legal restrictions, as well as being more susceptible to illness. Not only do they get sick easier, but they begin costing the government and taxpayers more money due to the healthcare they will require to keep them healthy. Divorce rates show many different aspects of a community that one would not consider at first glance.
After looking at such information regarding the community, the government is able to start making changes to help those affected by divorce and its disturbances. The divorce rate in the United States isn’t as high as it was in 1980, but without action to further decrease the number of divorces, the country will continue to face economic distress. After realizing this, the government can begin funding programs to help single parent families living on the streets, allowing them enough aid to get them back up on their feet, which would help to lower poverty rates as well. The government could also promote counseling or other forms of mediation in order to reduce the number of divorces across the country. If not the divorce rates, then they could focus on the number of marriages, and begin to have certain requirements before a couple was allowed to get married, hopefully in turn reducing divorce numbers simultaneously. By using the information gathered on divorce rates, the government would be able to take note of the effects on a society and changes can be made to improve the living of single parent homes across the United States, as well as to help prevent more from suffering due to the aftermath of divorce. It is essential that something is done immediately, rather than wait; for it is the children of today that will shape our future, and the future of this country.