Some see this as good news, others bad. What could be ‘bad’ about the divorce rate going down? Well, it’s not necessarily ‘divorce’ that’s the problem, it’s the disintegration of families with children. Some stats indicate that the divorce rate is at its lowest since 1970 because more and more people are just living together, but breakups still happen. Children, you see, don’t know or care about ‘divorce.’ All they know is their lives are changing, and mommy and daddy are breaking up. Read the whole article. There is a legitimacy to both sides of the argument on this one. It also goes to show you that sometimes statistic aren’t what matter, but what’s going on behind the numbers.
U.S. divorce rate lowest since 1970
By the numbers, divorce just isn’t what it used to be.
Despite the common notion that America remains plagued by a divorce epidemic, the national per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since its peak in 1981 and is now at its lowest level since 1970.
Yet Americans aren’t necessarily making better choices about their long-term relationships. Even those who study marriage and work to make it more successful can’t decide whether the trend is grounds for celebration or cynicism…
Some experts say relationships are as unstable as ever — and divorces are down primarily because more couples live together without marrying. Other researchers have documented what they call “the divorce divide,” contending that divorce rates are indeed falling substantively among college-educated couples but not among less-affluent, less-educated couples…
The number of couples who live together without marrying has increased tenfold since 1960; the marriage rate has dropped by nearly 30 percent in past 25 years; and Americans are waiting about five years longer to marry than they did in 1970.
Adding such factors together, Patrick Fagan of the conservative Heritage Foundation sees a bad situation.
“Cohabitation is very fragile, and when unmarried parents split, for the child it might as well be a divorce,” Fagan said. “Among those who are marrying there’s increased stability, but overall the children of the nation are getting a rawer and rawer deal from their parents.”
I will not allow the topic to go commentless. My 34th wedding anniversary is in a few weeks. My husband says most of the people in his office talk about their spouses as “first”, “second”, etc. so he refers to me as his “first” wife. Which I am. And he is my first husband. He is also my sweetheart and my hero.