Divorce Rate Down, But What Does It Mean?
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.
"Families with two earners with good jobs have seen an improvement in their standard of living, which leads to less tension at home and lower probability of divorce," said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University.
America's divorce rate began climbing in the late 1960s and skyrocketed during the '70s and early '80s, as virtually every state adopted no-fault divorce laws. The rate peaked at 5.3 divorces per 1,000 people in 1981.
But since then it's dropped by one-third, to 3.6. That's the lowest rate since 1970.
What's fueling that decline? According to 20 scholars, marriage-promotion experts and divorce lawyers consulted by The Associated Press, a lot of things.
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."
Other experts, however, are heartened by what they view as the increased determination of many couples to make marriage work. Among them is Bill Chausee of Child and Family Services of New Hampshire, which offers marriage-strengthening programs in a state where divorces dropped more than 25 percent between 2000 and 2005.
"People don't see marriage problems as some sort of stigma any more," said Chausee. "They're really interested in learning how to stay married; a lot of them are realizing they need more skill."
Some states have made concerted efforts to combat divorce with publicly-funded marriage education campaigns, although their effectiveness remains in question. In Oklahoma, 100,000 people have attended workshops since a marriage initiative began in 2001, but the latest divorce figures showed no drop, and the campaign's backers no longer stress their original goal of cutting divorce by one-third by 2010.
Wayne and Carol Sutton are among the couples who've gone to Oklahoma's marriage workshops; they attended a half-dozen sessions earlier this year in their hometown of Tulsa.
"This was a way to gain some insight," said Wayne Sutton, a longtime petroleum engineer whose wife also works in the energy industry. "They tell you to regenerate the closeness you had when you got married."
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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.
"Families with two earners with good jobs have seen an improvement in their standard of living, which leads to less tension at home and lower probability of divorce," said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University.
America's divorce rate began climbing in the late 1960s and skyrocketed during the '70s and early '80s, as virtually every state adopted no-fault divorce laws. The rate peaked at 5.3 divorces per 1,000 people in 1981.
But since then it's dropped by one-third, to 3.6. That's the lowest rate since 1970.
What's fueling that decline? According to 20 scholars, marriage-promotion experts and divorce lawyers consulted by The Associated Press, a lot of things.
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."
Other experts, however, are heartened by what they view as the increased determination of many couples to make marriage work. Among them is Bill Chausee of Child and Family Services of New Hampshire, which offers marriage-strengthening programs in a state where divorces dropped more than 25 percent between 2000 and 2005.
"People don't see marriage problems as some sort of stigma any more," said Chausee. "They're really interested in learning how to stay married; a lot of them are realizing they need more skill."
Some states have made concerted efforts to combat divorce with publicly-funded marriage education campaigns, although their effectiveness remains in question. In Oklahoma, 100,000 people have attended workshops since a marriage initiative began in 2001, but the latest divorce figures showed no drop, and the campaign's backers no longer stress their original goal of cutting divorce by one-third by 2010.
Wayne and Carol Sutton are among the couples who've gone to Oklahoma's marriage workshops; they attended a half-dozen sessions earlier this year in their hometown of Tulsa.
"This was a way to gain some insight," said Wayne Sutton, a longtime petroleum engineer whose wife also works in the energy industry. "They tell you to regenerate the closeness you had when you got married."
- no previous page
- next
1/2
Popular on CBSNews.com
- Small Fla. town wonders who the Powerball winner is
- Officials confirm there's only 1 winning Powerball ticket
- Long Island police defend Hofstra student killing 310 Comments
- Could cop have avoided accidentally killing NY student? 89 Comments
- Allegedly random murder, "hate crime," stuns NYC
- Deadly twisters tear through Midwest
- FBI Agent Killed In Robbery Play Video
- Winning tickets sought in $588M Powerball jackpot
Posted by kansas1946 at 10:04 PM : May 11, 2007
Bravo and right on!
I have heard about being able to marry a sister/brother or a first cousin but never a child.
There are more people living together, and we can see this in the number of homes where the children in the family have different fathers.. they live together for a while, produce a couple of kids then move on to the next partner, and then the next, so would these be counted in the stats of broken homes.. Haven't studies proven that people who lived together were less likely to succeed when they married, than people who didn't live together before they married.. logics tells us that it should be the other way around because when living together they get to know the good and bad before they marry...but from many studies it seems that it isn't the case..
My husband said that 30 years ago (in NZ) we started to see an increase in divorce thus an increase in damaged children, add this to the last 20 years where couples now live together, it doesnt give children a sense of security, thus he said that children seem to be more fragile now... After 42 years of teaching and being a Principal of both Private and State Schools in many schools he had a pretty good insight on things. He has seen a massive change in not only behaviour but confidence in children. In some ways many children seem to be more confident yet more fragile, and as there are many very confident fantastic kids out there we can only generalize.. but children with different dads suffer the most.
************
Gaye5,
You indicated there was a "push." The example you stated was a specific circumstance between two people. I don't call that a push. I am sure they didn't get the law changed.
*** should push and push. I wasn't "outraged" by the idea thirty years ago. I thought they should have that right then, and I still think so. You need to take the time to meet and get to know some gay couples, and gay couples with children. I think people are fearful just because they really don't know what these families are like. These families need legal and financial protections that are afforded to married couples and families.
Besides, it is logical that as homosexuals want to marry because they love each other, it then opens the gates for other types of relationships..
we might think that it is stupid now but so did people think homosexuals marrying was outrages only 30 years ago and they have pushed and pushed until now it is being excepted by some.
We got married when I was 17, and we have our first child 10 months later and grew up with them, it was stinken hard but we were very happy.. perhaps because we were determined to do the right thing by each other and our children..Yes there are many times when he has driven me nuts, but of course with me being perfect I can say these things ehehehe????
After 44 years I can still say that I love him and except him for all his faults and it appears that he excepts me for all my faults... He does things for me because he wants to make me happy and I do the same for him, not because it is a chore, nor to do the right thing but simply because of caring for each other. I suppose it is selfishness in a way, as it makes us happy to do things for each other, I want to see him happy... I want him to be content, and to feel loved... and guess what, all our children are also very happy, loved their childhood and have wonderful jobs and are loving their husbands/wives the same, I wonder why that is eh. Could it be because we were determined to give them a secure happy home???
There are different personality types and once we learn this it makes it easier to understand other people, so get a book on personality types.. and you will be able to say, "so that is why he/she does this", understanding personality types helps to makes marriages work, and for us to understand how other humans think and why they think the way they do..