We hear all the time about how the divorce rates in America are rising. The news is full of it. But what if, on the contrary, the divorce rates were actually not as bad as the media would have us believe?
A lot of the research shows that the divorce rates in the country have actually been on the decline since 1980. There is, as it turns out, no real number for quantifying and measuring the number of American marriages that break in divorce. Or rather, there is no universally accepted method.
The much widely quoted 50% rate that divorce attorneys and social researchers love to brandish about is based on an educated guess but it’s not yet been proven that it is true. And even if all the researchers could figure out a way to solve the conundrum, it wouldn’t prove anything―this is because there is a lot of demographic data that has been missing across the decades.
Lack of Data Complicates Things
In 1996, the American budgetary considerations topped the NCHS from collecting yearly statistics on marriage and divorce. Some states like California have historically refrained from reporting divorce rates. The Census Bureau can ask citizens to take questionnaires and use that to calculate rates, but this is very subjective data and in the absence of any solid information over the years, the quality of data available for reporting now is much weaker than it had been before.
But even with the paucity of a trustworthy archive, most social scientists and divorce attorneys believe that the magic 50% number has not yet come to pass. The younger generation today may actually be showing more restraint and may have fewer divorces than their parents did. So why is that everyone is still harping on about the rising rates when they have been shown to be stable?
How Demonizing ‘Divorce’ can Work for some Social Agencies
One of the reasons for this could be that talking about a higher divorce rate could fit in with the world view of certain segments of society. Conservatives for example, and some social groups, may find it hard to reconcile with the fact that the new generation with all its ills is being given a thumbs up for something as important as divorce. A liberal on the other hand, may just rubbish the whole idea and say that it doesn’t matter if you belong to GenX or Y, a divorce is a divorce is a divorce and it is no big deal.
Divorce Rates and the National Marriage Project
A lot of the media rhetoric about marriage and divorce in the country is based on the reports from the National Marriage Project which is run from the University of Virginia, and was initially started in the Rutgers University in 1997. The project states its mission as to identify strategies that can help increase marital stability and quality.
In order to do that, the Project has to first create a sense of crisis around the whole institution of marriage and divorce rates. The reports from this agency, and many others like it, make for good copy which is why the media is so ready to soak it up. But for those who were worried about the rising divorce rates in the country and the future of their children’s generation, this might come as a relief to know it is not as dark it has been painted to be.
