Is it a time to celebrate? Is it a time to get cynical? Despite the image of Americans as divorce crazy and that you aren’t a real adult until you’ve got at least one divorce under your belt, it seems that the rate of divorce is at its lowest level since 1970. That’s pretty impressive when you consider that 1970 was 2 years before I was born and that the peak in the divorce rate occurred in 1981 when I was just 9 years old.
So What Does This Mean?
Apparently, that’s still undecided. Even the experts aren’t sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. After all, one has to ask are we making better decisions with whom we choose to make our long-term relationships with? Are we getting more serious about relationships altogether? What’s the deal?
It really does depend on whom you ask. Some experts feel that this is a great sign. That it marks a sense of determination in couples to make it work. Other experts credit the efforts of some states to create marriage education and strengthening programs to help couples combat divorce. Bill Chausee of Child and Family Services of New Hampshire stated:
People don’t see marriage problems as some sort of stigma any more. They’re really interested in learning how to stay married; a lot of them are releasing they need more skill.
Others Aren’t So Sure
Other experts aren’t so sure that this the positive sign that it appears on the surface. In their opinion, relationships remain as unstable as ever. The reason that the divorce rate is down is because more couples are electing to just cohabitate rather than get married. There’s no rate of divorce for cohabitating couples that move out.
The marriage rate itself has diminished overall since 1970 and many people are waiting as much as five to seven years longer to get married than they once did. Still – if you take the positive outlook along with the negative, you can say that the people who are making the commitment to get married are really sticking to it.
This is setting a great example for our kids – after all, when I was growing up, I saw divorce every day. I don’t see it as often now and I can applaud that effort. So let’s take the good and applaud that.
What do you think?
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