Marriage is a blissful union that every single person looks forward to enter someday. It is hoped that you spend your entire life with your spouse whom you love and committed to. However, many marriages are under a threat or plagued by divorce. This impending issue has not gone by us, rather it catches our interest motivating us to dig deep and find out the US Divorce Rate 2019. If you are interested to know this as I am, then journey with me as we unveil the Divorce Rate in the US 2019.
DIVORCE RATES IN THE US 2019 [UPDATED RECORD] – ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
Divorce in the United State has proven to be a common phenomenon in the United States. It occurs among young couples and older couples and the rate it occurs in the United State is becoming alarming. In fact, it is one of the countries with Highest Divorce Rate in the World standing at the 6th spot.
Healthy marriages are good for couples’ and their children; because growing up in a happy home protects children from mental, physical, educational and social challenges.
Several studies on the current US Divorce Rate in 2019 points out that Divorce Rate in the US is declining. This is a good feedback for us because this implies that many first marriages have a tendency of getting to the stage of “Till Death Do US Part”. However, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found there were 3.2 divorces per 1,000 people in 2016. This refers to the “crude divorce rate”. This is a whopping 18% decrease in the rate of divorce between 2008 and 2016 (this is according to the recent study on divorce rates by Philip N. Cohen of the University of Maryland).
It is noteworthy that you are informed that, the Crude Divorce Rate provide useful information describing changes in divorce rates over time, it does not provide accurate information on the percentage of first marriages that eventually ends in divorce.
Even though it is believed by many persons that 40 to 50 percent of marriages in the United States ends up in the divorce. In fact, the divorce rate for later marriages is way much higher than first marriages. This may not be entirely true going by our current stat. As there are changes in economic and demography in the country, it rubs off on the perception and attitude of the people about marriage. This implies that marriages in the United States is lasting much longer than it used to be in time past.
Reasons for the Decline in Divorce In USA
The Divorce Rate in the US began to drop in the early 90s and has since then continued to reduce drastically. The rate of divorce occurrence in 1992 was 4.8 divorces per 1,000 population and then the rate dropped lower to 3.2 by 2016.
The reason to this decline has been attributed to Millennials (persons reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century) perception and attitude towards marriage and are taking a different steps away from the previous and older generations. Millennials are opting to get married after completing their education and established their career or have a feasible job to provide sound finance which serves as a means of having sound finances.
Another reason for lagging divorce rate is attributed to the fact that contemporary marriages are lasting longer than those of the previous generation. Thereby cutting short the trend of marriage and divorce which was high in the 60s and 70s into the early 80s.
Why People Divorce in the United States
There are many reasons why married couples file for divorce and these reasons varies. Nonetheless, some of the common factors that bring about divorce include and especially money problems, lack of commitment have proven to be the most common reason given by divorcing couples. Below are the common reasons given by couples intending to divorce and their percentages:
| S/N | Reasons | Percentages (%) |
| 1. | Lack of commitment | 73% |
| 2. | Argue too much | 56% |
| 3. | Infidelity | 55% |
| 4. | Married too young | 46% |
| 5. | Unrealistic expectations | 45% |
| 6. | Lack of equality in the relationship | 44% |
| 7. | Lack of preparation for marriage | 41% |
| 8. | Domestic Violence or Abuse | 25% |
- Effects of Divorce In US
There are diverse effect of divorce on children and the couples. The impacts related to divorce influence the children of the couple in both the short and the long period. After divorce, the couple regularly encounters impacts including, diminished degrees of satisfaction, change in monetary status, and emotional issues.
- History of Divorce in the United State
It is important that we are aware of the trend and pattern at which divorce rate in the United States got to the stage it presently is.
From the year 1867 50 1879, the yearly divorce rate in the country was 0.3 per 1000 people. The reason for this is the fact that many people who got married did so in a bid to gain property rights or to move social class. However, this perception changed as people began to enter into marriage with the idea of love and romance. Yet, divorce still occurred with 10,000 divorces in 1867 and by the year 1879 there were 17,000 divorces.
Divorce was not a common phenomenon in the 19th century and even seen as an abominable act. However, unhappy couples were separated but not legally divorced. Gradually the rate of divorce increases in 1880 to 0.4 for every 1,000 Americans with 20, 000 divorces and rose to 0.7 per 1000 Americans in 1898 with 48, 000 divorced.
Moving to the 20th century when divorce was still considered a taboo and not accepted, yet divorce still took a leap to 0.7 for 1000 Americans in 1901 and later to 0.8 with 61,000 people in the same year. By 1907, it increased to 0.9 per 1000 population.
The effect of the World War 1 was not only the fight for a civilization but also gave room for women to enter into the workforce thereby making money independently and gained more freedom. This gave a lot of women the impression that they do not need to depend on a man for provision or security. By the year 1912, the rate of divorce has reached 1 per 1000 people and by 1914 it hit 1.4 with 142, 000 divorces.
Women independence continued to increase in the 20s and they started dating publicly, on the other hand some women choose to stay single longer than getting married at a young age. Thereby increasing the divorce rate to 1.7 per 1000 and by 1929, there were 200, 000 divorces.
The great depression in the early 30’s because a lot of women to once more depend on men and this saw a decline in divorce rate from 1.7 per 1000 to 1.3 per 1000 people.
When the United States joined World War II, the women again joined the workforce and earned more independence and freedom which increased the rate of divorce in the country. By the year 1947, divorce rate increased to 3.4 per 1000 people with 397, 000 divorces. In the idea of having a nuclear family began in 1950s with emphasis on family unit and marriage which saw younger marriage, more kids with less divorces with divorce rate reducing to 2.5 per 1000 people and by 1958 it dropped further to 2.1
The trend continues to soar from the 60s to the 80s which has reached 4.7 by 1989 into the early 90s but slowly reduced throughout the decade to 4.1 divorces for every 1000 people.
Presently the rate has reduced to 3.2 in 2016 and 2.9 by the year 2017 with just 787, 251 divorces, being the lowest since 1968.
Conclusion on the Divorce Rates in the US 2019 [Updated Record] – all you Need to Know
The effect of divorce on parent and children is can tamper with their emotion, health, mental and other aspect of their lives. It is important to first count the cost before involved in a relationship that will eventually lead to marriage. Thankfully, many couples are staying longer in marriage resulting to the Divorce Rate in the US is on the decline. More should be done so that singles intending to get into marriage will see the need to stay longer and enjoy rather than endure the marriage.
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