Divorce Rates

Many people decry the ever increasing number of divorces in America. Proponents of marriage should be pleased to know that divorce rates in America have, contrary to popular thought, been on the decline since the 1970s. Not as pleasing to fans of marriage is one simple cause for this phenomenon: less people are getting married.

Marriage is simply less common - 50 percent less common in fact since 1970. An increasing percentage of couples are choosing cohabitation as their living arrangement. In turn, only the most committed couples and those with certain religious views marry, lowering the overall divorce rates. Thus, American marriages since 1970 are much more likely to celebrate a ten-year anniversary. Still, American divorce rates remain high compared to other countries, as 40% of marriages in the U.S. are said to end in divorce. Globally, the U.S. still ranks as one of the countries with the highest rate of divorce, next to Sweden and several other Scandinavian countries. Contrastingly, India has far fewer divorces than most countries around the world. However, their incredibly low rate of divorce may be attributed to the still-extant cultural stigma against divorce and the patriarchal, caste driven society.

Surprisingly, despite the modern popularity of cohabitation, couples who do cohabit before marrying have a far greater chance of divorcing later in life. This statement is not without exceptions, of course. Couples who are engaged to be married or seriously plan to be married before cohabiting do not have a higher risk of divorce. Likewise, committed couples who are ideologically opposed to marriage do not run a higher risk of separation due to cohabitation. Overall, though, casual cohabitation does seem to result in increased divorce rates and a decrease in the happiness of marriage according to a variety of studies.

As more and more people seem to realize, marriage is a serious decision that should not be taken lightly. Many relationships are just not capable of successful cohabitation, much less marriage. The seriousness of the commitment that marriage entails is gradually causing a significant number of Americans to avoid it altogether. With family therapy and divorce counseling, married couples who do want to stay together have options available to prevent their marriage becoming just another statistic.