Increasing Divorce And Cohabitation – Causes

Many people grow up with the intention that they will one day get married. Studies have shown that contradictory to the yearning a couple may have to get married, now more than ever, the rates of divorce and cohabitation without marriage are skyrocketing. As of right now, at least one third of marriages in our society have already ended in divorce, and about one-third more are extremely likely to end their marriages in divorce.

There are extremely diverse ranges of reasons that may be responsible for the termination of a life-long vow of commitment to another person. All of the movements from the last few decades such as the women’s rights movement, and women’s lib have allowed women to become more financially independent.

This ultimately proves to women that they do not need to have a dominating figure in their lives. This may help prevent a woman from staying in a relationship that she does not feel comfortable in. (ie abusive relationship) also, the belief in the past used to be that to start a family a woman needs to be married but the sexual revolution of the sixties changed this belief when more people than ever started to freely and frequently experiment with their sexuality. Also, as many labour prospects for men are demanding higher education levels, more and more men are becoming unemployed than ever before. Consequently, men who are not financially secure are eight times less likely to marry a pregnant girlfriend. The rates of cohabitation have been increasing due to the new-found belief that a healthy relationship with or without a family can be successful without the need of marriage between the couple. This is why many couples have resorted to either divorce or cohabitation without marriage instead of choosing the traditional married life to raise a family.

Many parents see divorce as the end of an unsuccessful relationship and the start of a new beginning (remedy) where they can rebuild their lives. A separating parent may go through stages of grief but they will know that the outcome of the divorce will usually end up a positive one in the long run. Children on the other hand, feel as if nothing good can come of their parents separating. They may feel as if they are being given up on, and ultimately abandoned. Furthermore, the children may feel as if the divorce was somehow their fault because they may not have developed their reasoning skills yet. Parents and children will have different views on the divorce because they each play a different role in the family.

There are many negative psychological and sociological impacts that a divorce can have on children. Children with divorced parents will grow up to have more difficulties in dating, have fewer dates, more difficulty finding dating partners, and less happiness with their current dating partner.

When the children will eventually marry, their marital quality is less and these children will ultimately be less happy, have less interaction, more conflict, more problems as well as being more prone to be in a divorce themselves. Children of dysfunctional marriages are said to have poorer psychological well-being and demonstrate greater psychological distress, lower self esteem, less happiness and lower life satisfaction.

The rates of divorces in our society are increasing at an alarming rate. Along with the tolerance that our society and government has for a couple who wants to separate, a divorcing couple must realize that their actions are not only going to affect themselves, but in the long run it will also deeply affect everyone else involved in their everyday lives.