Divorce Rate Why has it Gone up over the Decades?

Divorce Rate – Why has it Gone up over the Decades? by James Wallis

The man fulfils physical needs of the family and offers protection while the woman prepares food and gives affection to children to ensure their healthy upbringing. The institution of marriage is clearly necessary for propagation of human race. For the last so many millennia, in every society, broadly this is the system that has existed and very successfully at that.

Things have changed in the last 50 years, however. The “modern age” has begun to take its toll on the age-old institution of marriage. The latter has lost its prestige and sanctity. No longer are life partners expected to stick around lifelong. People are increasingly choosing to say goodbye to spouses who no longer meet their expectations, and filing for divorce. In some western countries, the divorce rate is now touching a whopping 50 percent – almost every second marriage is destined to end in divorce! This surely has long-term consequences for social stability. It also affects the upbringing and mental maturity of future generations.

What is the reason for the galloping divorce rate? Why has it suddenly increased so much in the last four decades or so? The causes are many, from changing social mores to economic emancipation of women.

Changing Social Mores

Since World War II, social customs and mores have changed drastically. Their grip on the individual has loosened dramatically. The last few decades have seen the rise of individualism. Instead of the society, the individual has become the basic building block of society.

What you want from your life has become more important than what the society wants from you. Individual rights are now sacrosanct and how you want to lead your life is totally up to you. This is the era of challenging social expectations and going against the tide of collective thought and behaviour.

People now no longer want to live through a relationship they do not want. They don’t think twice about divorcing spouses they do not like. “I come first, you come second” is the mantra of modern marriages. The relationship lasts only as long as both the partners are satisfied.

The most drastic change that has happened in the marital landscape is that divorce has lost its stigma and has come to be accepted as normal. There is no longer any kind of shame or embarrassment attached to divorcing your spouse.

Empowerment of Women

Gone are the days when women were expected to be chained to home and hearth. Last few decades have unleashed the power of women in society. They have equal access to all opportunities to rise in social status and earn as much as men.

Now, women and men both go to the same schools and colleges and acquire the same degrees. Both do similar jobs and, though a little bit of glass ceiling still exists at higher levels, there is nothing that stops a woman to rise to her full potential.

Working women are financially independent. Those who are married and have children can easily afford to divorce and take care of themselves and the kids. Women no longer have to wait on men to go out and bring home the bacon. Educated and earning women know very well how to provide for the family. They do not hesitate in getting out of a caustic relationship and take their children with them.

Change in Divorce Laws

All the above factors would have come to naught if the divorce laws were strict and did not easily allow a man and woman to separate. Fortunately, the legal framework governing divorce has kept pace with social developments. The courts now no longer view a divorce as a social offence and thumbing one’s nose at the society at large. The judges are now quite understanding of the changing social situation. This, combined with liberal divorce laws, has contributed immensely toward a high divorce rate.

Modern Lifestyle

The modern lifestyle ensures that there are many opportunities for those from the opposite sex to meet and mingle. People are interacting with each other and strangers in office, clubs, gyms, charities, sports, travelling and so on and the chances of extramarital affairs have increased drastically.

With mobile phones, email and Internet chatting, it is easy to keep in touch with each other over long distances. Is it any wonder then that divorce rate has increased as people have affairs and prefer to leave their partner behind in search of new romantic interests?

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you want to find out more about a solicitor managed divorce see http://www.managed-divorce.co.uk

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