Blog 11: For better, For worse

Broken relationships continue to affect many around the world. Unlike other nations, Britain’s divorce rates are on the rise. In 2009 their divorce rates were reported to be at 6.2 percent, as of 2011 the rate has increased to 11.1 percent, which is a 4.9 percent increase in only two years. Some of the reasons causing this dramatic increase are people not marrying for the right reason, not truly loving their mate, and even the cohabitation before (which has been proven to increase the chances of divorce once married). The increase in rates of divorce has come with major social and financial costs. Including affecting children emotionally, having them torn between parents. In order to address this issue a highly respected judge, Sir Paul Coleridge has been working toward starting a campaign to educate couples better on marriage. He plans to have seminars, conferences, and publications that encourage people to enter these commitments more seriously. These efforts will also educate and motivate couples on how to work on and maintain their relationships when things get rough in their relationships. His goal in this campaign is to help strengthen relationships and have more children raised surrounded by love and stability.

This campaign that Sir Paul Coleridge is working on is a great idea and I think it will result in a major decrease in divorce rates. The campaign is good because it allows people to see how divorce has become a problem. Shows them how it would affect their children and their financial stability. There are many people now that divorce and marry off of impulse without thinking of the effects first. When they marry on impulse they often don’t think of how bad things could get at some point during the marriage and how they would handle it, so when those moments come along they decide on impulse once again. This campaign would definitely help people, who make these types of decisions on impulse, slow down and think about the real effects and later result in longer lasting marriages and less divorces. This will also help in decreasing the amount of children’s emotional and cognitive development that is usually affected by parental separation.

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Blog 12: One-third of infants born out of wedlock

As with other country’s statistics, Australia’s marriage and divorce rates are both on a decline. As of 2010 marriage rates have dropped 1.5 percent in the last 10 years. Divorce rates have fallen .2 percent in the past 10 years to 2.3 percent. The biggest contributing factor to these rates is the amount of people deciding to cohabitate before marriage, known to Australian’s as de facto relationships. It’s not that people that cohabitate aren’t marrying, but they are waiting longer to marry and divorcing more than those who do not cohabitate more. As of 2010 those that are marrying, 79 percent had a de facto relationship first before marrying. Since couple’s are waiting longer to marry, the average age of marriage has also increased to 29 for men and 27 for women. These delays have also lead to one in three infant’s being born to parents who aren’t married. This has become one of the worst effects of having a de facto relationship before marriage because it then begins to contribute to other global issues already acknowledged.

Children born to unmarried parents are at higher risk of experiencing some form of parental break-up which negatively effects their cognitive and emotional development. Since those who cohabitate before marriage are at higher risk of divorce this means they are also at higher risk of experiencing financial difficulties once that happens. This means that the children are then added to the number of children that experience poverty. So in all, cohabitation has been affecting relationships and children in a major way.

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Blog 13: Rising divorce rate no help to any society

In this article David Quinn describes how "marriage breakdown" rates are at an all time in Ireland. Although the rates are high for them, the rates are still low compared to other countries.

In the most recent census results showed that divorce in Ireland has increased by 150 percent in the last 10 years, which now puts them at 88,000 people. The term marriage breakdown does not only refer to those that are divorced, but also those that are going through a separation and remarriage after divorce which makes up approximately 250,000 people. The other percentage of separations is covered by those who choose to cohabitate rather than marry. The effects of cohabitation have also gone unacknowledged, but the British Millennium Cohort Study was able to show with statistics that couples who cohabitate are more than twice as likely to break-up as married parents. Quinn later begins to explain how it used to be believed that adult separations had no long term effect on children, research has also proven this to be incorrect. Two effects that were acknowledged were decreases in academic achievement and negative views of marriage as they become adults. Children who experience any type of separation between their parents, it’s a smooth or chaotic transition, tend to act out in school and perform badly. If not addressed at an early age, this can later effect their achievement in their career. Children who experience marriage breakdown are also less likely to want to marry in fear of having to deal with separation again as they did when they were a child.

When people make life changing decisions such as separation they tend to think only of how it will affect them and their child at the moment. Parent’s often fail to think of how it will affect their child later on in life. Two parents deciding to go through any type of divorce could ultimately be contributing a pattern starting where the child never gets married but has children, later giving their child the idea that it is ok to not be married and have children. It could also lead to their child having to experience poverty as an adult because of poor choices made in school which stops him/her from being able to work in the career field they want to work in. There are plenty of global issues already in the world that a “simple” separation could later on contribute to.

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Blog 10: Marriage Rates Declining in Developed Countries

It has been noticed in sever articles that the rate of marriage has decreased along with the age of first marriage increasing. The average age of marriage now is between 26 and 29 years of age. The percentage of adults married has dropped from 72 percent in 1960 to 51 percent today in the United States. Many adults are taking the cohabitation route before getting married. They view this as a chance to get to know their mates ways better when it comes to how he/she handles finances, confrontation, and housework. For many this period of cohabitating ends relationships or at least postpones marriage because things began to come to light that one mate may not be able to deal with. In Mexico they are debating on giving their residents the option of a trial marriage that would include a two-year contract. This would guarantee couples to stay together for at least two years and make the divorce process much faster and easier. Two other statistics acknowledged that influence marriage rates are education and race. 64 percent of college graduates are married versus 47 percent of high school graduates, compared to both levels being equal fifty years ago. These statistics partially influenced by educated women wanting to marry educated men, and educated men wanting to be educated so that they can better provide for their families in the future. As for race, 55 percent of whites are married, 48 percent of Hispanics, and 31 percent of Blacks.

There are issues with marriage rates all around the world. Some countries are trying to come up with ways of increasing marriage rates, such as Mexico, while others encourage or at least accept cohabitation. Marriage rates around the world could increase if more countries came up with ways of encouraging marriage, but these ideas must not eventually lead to higher divorce rates because that would cause another global problem. I don’t see an issue with adults waiting later to marry once they are financially stable, I actually think that is very smart. The idea of cohabitating to be able to see your mate’s flaws before marriage is ok, but I wouldn’t encourage it because there are other ways to see these. Many preachers encourage marriage counseling before getting married because this is where you are able to talk about things such as each person’s views on handling finances and communicating to prevent or solve confrontation. . So there are several ways to address the issue of low marriage rates without leading to higher divorce rates and/or cohabitation rates.

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Blog 9: Out-of-wedlock births on the rise worldwide

One of the effects the researchers have found to come from cohabitation is increased rated of live child birth outside of marriage. These numbers are increasing not only in the Unites States, but worldwide. A study conducted in 2007 by the National Center for health statistics reviewed rates of 14 countries. Of the 14 countries Iceland had the highest rate of 66% and Sweden had the second highest of 55%. The two countries with the lowest rates were Japan with 2%, and Italy which had 21%. The study compared rates in 1980 to 2007, which reflected a major increase in every country. The United States landed toward the middle with 40% which was a 22% increase from their rate in 1980. The Netherlands also reported 40% but their rate was a 36% increase. Countries with higher rates are not analyzed or addressed as often as countries such as the US because although the couples are not married, they have a higher rate of stable relationships for the children born out-of-wedlock.

Cohabitation has become one of the leading causes to child births outside of marriage. Everyone does not necessarily believe marriage is for them, but many women with this view still want to conceive a child. Although I do not necessarily believe in creating a family while cohabitating, I do believe that it is much healthier for the child if this takes place within a stable relationship. The down side to this is that the parents are then setting the example for their child to have a family without being married. If these views are continuously passed down from generation to generation, the rates of cohabitation will continue to rise throughout the years, along with live child birth rates outside of marriage. These acts add on to the instability of countries today.

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Blog 8: More View Cohabitation as Acceptable Choice

This article viewed cohabitation rates for Scandinavian nations, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. All of these Nations showed increases in cohabitation rates and decreases in marriage rates. In all of the countries studied, 15% to 30% of couples reported living together, except the United States which reported only to 10%.  Although the American’s rates were a little lower, it still reflects an increase from 500,000 to 5 million since 1970. As one of the results of the increased cohabitation rates, the United State’s marriage rate declined approximately 20% between 1995 and 2005. There are several ideas that were addressed as to how cohabitation is viewed by those who engage in it, and why. Some researchers believe it is viewed as a substitute to marriage while others view it as a convenience when dating. It was also suggested that there are several celebrities that live together and are setting the example that is ok and should be accepted.  Another statistic showed that 40% of unmarried couples reported to having their child under 18 living with them. The National Marriage Project showed findings that children in who live in homes with cohabitating parents have a higher risk of suffering from emotional problems, drug abuse, and alcoholism.

I completely understand the view of cohabitating for convenience when dating, but although I understand this view I do not support it 100%. Being that one of my focuses are on marriage in general, why it works, why it doesn’t work, and why it doesn’t happen as often anymore, I often come across couples that rather not marry at all. Many view marriage as just documents and more money that has to be spent just to have the man’s last name, when they can just cohabitate and save the money and hassle. While this is a very good debatable view, most of the couples that think this way don’t stop to think about how the child is affected in that type of decision. So although deciding to cohabitate may be hurting “only numbers”/statistics, it can also hurt the child and the couple’s relationship.

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Blog 6: Low marriage rate reflects changing relationships, more cohabitation

As with many countries, the age individuals are when they first marry has changed dramatically in the past 30 years. In the 70s the average age for women was 22.8 and men were 25.2. As of 2003 those ages have increased to 28.5 for women and 30.6 for men. One reason why the ages have increased is the new view young adults have of what they should be focused on in their early 20s. Where they use to focus on relationship development then career development after marriage, these views have been swapped. Young adults now focus on developing a promising career then the formation of a family. Along with this change in view came the acceptance of cohabiting. With both of these new perspectives at hand, it has led to a decrease in marital rates and an increase in single parent families. Since the 1940s the marriage rates have declined by approximately 6.2 percent. This has also made children more likely to experience some type of break-up between their parents.

The idea young adults have of developing their careers before a family is really good because once their family is developed they will have less risk of being unstable. However, if they continue to take on the idea of cohabiting and having children in the process, the risk will then in turn remain high of being unstable. When a child experiences a break up between their parents it can be very traumatizing or just have a negative impact on their emotional development. Cohabiting can also slow down the process of developing their family if both the man and woman get comfortable at that level and decide to continue to focus on their career only, they will then continue to push back the development of their family leading to a push back of getting married. This will then continue to contribute to the decline in marriage rates.

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Blog 5: New Attitude Sees Divorce Rate Slide

As with the previous countries my blogs have looked at, New Zealand’s divorce rates have dropped over the years. When looking at this statement alone many would think that this is a good thing for all countries. The problem actually comes about when you begin to research why the rates are dropping. Since 1982 New Zealand’s divorce rates have dropped from 17.1 percent to 11.3 percent. Some of the main contributors to this drop are the decrease in marriage rates, the increase in cohabitation rates, and the people’s views of sex and marriage. The article explains how the views of sex have led to more mature views of marriage and an additional step before marriage (cohabitation). Being that cohabitation has become a step before marriage, people are waiting longer to marry and view it as more of commitment. So this has now made marriage a choice rather than an obligation.

After reading this article I see how cohabitation has its positive sides. If people continue to be more patient in getting married and understand the level of commitment it takes, this can continue to cause a decrease in divorce rates which is great. On the other hand this additional step of cohabitating and people now being comfortable having sex outside of marriage, can begin to lead not only to people waiting longer to marry but also some not marrying at all. Some may become comfortable not having such a high level of commitment and responsibility to another person and stop at the level of cohabitating. This can lead to an increase in the number of single parent homes. It would be helpful if there were some sort of organizations that could educate those who choose to cohabitate on the pros and cons so that everyone can be more aware and make better decisions.

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Blog 4:Falling Marriage Rates Hurting Children

A recent report published in Australia has done a great of showing the effects the decline in marriage rates has had on children. Since the marriage rates have declined but the child birth rates are still increasing, this is leaving several children to be raised by either one biological parent or someone else outside of their biological parents. The stress from being a single parent leads to the parent neglecting the child or them taking their frustrations out on the child. Since 1998 child abuse rates have tripled, this is not counting the cases not reported. Between 1999 and 2006 there was a major increase in reported child abuse cases, sex abuse, and children being cared for by someone other than their biological parents. The children have also been suffering from stress and depression leading to alcohol intoxication rates doubling for children between ages 15 and 24, and the rate of children hospitalized due to self-inflicted harm increasing by 66 percent. To help with these statistics it has been suggested that there be an increase in the number of parenting and family education courses.

I believe the idea of having these courses would be of great help because the more people are educated the better they can perform as parents. They should also implement more single parent support groups and groups for children of single parent households to participate in that would encourage them to release their stress, anger, depression, or frustrations through more positive outlets. If the marriage rate continues to decrease, and there not be anything implemented to help with the effects they are having on children, the effects will eventually become worst. Also the longer the children go without these effects being addressed, the more of a negative effect it will have on them as they become adults possibly causing them to not want to get married either, which will in turn lead to more of a decrease in marriage rates.

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Blog 3: The Big Question: Why does the marriage rate continue to decline and does the trend matter?

 England marriage rates have been continuously declining since the 1980s. Since 1991 the number of legalized marriages has dropped two thirds to only 231,450. Along with this number, the type of marriages taken place has also dropped. In 2007 the amount of weddings involving a wedding ceremony dropped by 50% compared to the amount in 1991. One of the major causes of the drops in numbers is the way people’s views of marriage have changed. In earlier years many married young partly because they were frowned upon if they were having sex or children outside of marriage. During this period 92 percent of babies born had parents that were married. This percentage was so high because many of the marriages took place while the woman was pregnant so that the baby wouldn’t be bought into the world a ‘bastard’. Today fewer women marry but continue to have children (24percent), which is leading to an increase in child poverty rates.

 It has become accepted and tolerated by society and the church to have sex and/or children outside of marriage. Along with this the government now issues a child tax allowance rather than a married couple’s tax allowance. When the government had the married couple’s tax allowance it encouraged people to get married because they had something to look forward to. Now that they have replaced it with the child tax allowance the single parents feel more supported in their decision to have children but not get married. The recession has also become a cause in the decline of marriages. Many of those who still believe in getting married with the ceremony are unable to afford it so they don’t marry or wait longer. This has led to the average age of men and women when they first marry to rise from 28 and 26 to 36 and 33.

If nothing is done to change the way people view marriage and having sex outside of marriage the marriage rates will continue to decline and the child poverty rates can continue to be on an incline. There are many ways people can get involved to change these views to help increase the number of marriages which would in turn positively affect child poverty rates. The schools in England now teach safe sex since the invention of contraception. This is a great idea to adapt to the acceptance of sex outside of marriage, but it abstinence should still be encouraged to help reduce the amount of children being born outside of marriage. Along with this the government could also try to implement the married couple’s tax allowance again, but still include the child tax allowance because they shouldn’t only focus on one problem area.

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Blog #2: Sweden's 'marriage lite' gets closer examination

Marriage was once viewed by many as one of the requirements of having a family. Today, cohabitation has become another option for forming a family. Some people see it as a new pre-requisite for marriage, while others view it as a substitution to marriage (known in Sweden as ‘Marriage Lite’).

Cohabitation has affected statistics related to marriage both positively and negatively. Reports show that nearly 28% of couples are cohabitating in Sweden and 8% in the US. Marriage rates have dropped by approximately 50% in the US over the last 40 years, partly due to the increase of couples cohabitating rather than marrying. Divorce rates have also been on a constant down fall in the US for the past 30 years, yet increasing in Sweden.

Everyone that divorces or chooses not to marry has their own reason. Some see marriage as a long-term commitment that is hard to get out of. Most people that view marriage this way would rather cohabitate because it is easier to get out of than trying to divorce. There are always options to help couples prevent divorce or build a better relationship that can lead to a trusting and successful marriage, it’s up to the couple if they want to put in the work.

The decision couples make in the US and Sweden, whether it be to work toward/ through a marriage, or avoid it all together, it will continue to affect divorce and marriage rates. The more people cohabitate, the lower marriage rates will become. On the other hand, if couples do not decide to use the resources provided to work through their marriage, divorce rates will continue to rise in Sweden and take a negative turn in the US. Both statistics will always depend on how couples view marriage and what they are willing to do to make them work.

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Blog #1: Divorce rate soars as couples find it easy to quit

Marriage was once considered a sacred commitment between a man and a woman, divorce was not accepted. This was how marriage and divorce was thought of all around the world. Regardless of what issues a couple may have, they were expected to work it out together or looks pass the problem.  

Since the early 90’s divorce rates have been constantly rising in all countries. In the 1970’s the divorce rate for China was at 200,000, by the end of 2010 they had risen to 4.5 million. Research showed that the rates were lowest the first quarter of the year with 5,100 a day.  There are several contributing factors to the rise in divorces, the first being that divorce has become so acceptable in society. It has become tolerated by the public regardless of the reason, whether it is adultery or someone is unhappy in the marriage, people divorce when they feel like it. Along with it becoming so acceptable the process has also become easy to complete. In order to finalize a divorce in China, both parties only have to sign a document at their local Civil Affairs Bureau, as long as there aren’t any asset disputes.

A survey completed by the Wan He Lian He Law Firm showed adultery to account for half of the 500,000 divorces studied. The people who commit adultery and file for divorce fail to realize how it affects their families. Although divorce is tolerated more by society, this does not mean the children are understanding of it the same.

http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.uncg.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/