High Divorce Rates: Reasons and Interpretations

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Table of Contents

Divorce Rate in Modern Family Institution
Media Hysteria around Divorce Rate
Works Cited

Divorce Rate in Modern Family Institution

Nowadays, experts in social sciences, traditional and new media argue that one of the main issues of a family institution, not only in the United States (US) but globally, is a high divorce rate. Conservatives and right-wing ideologists argue that this is a sign of the family institution’s decline and crisis. Progressives and leftists say that it is one of the side effects of significant social change that are now taking place in a global society. Researchers claim that the currently known divorce rate is “3.2 per 1,000 population” (“Divorce statistics”). The US ranks fourth in the list of countries in terms of divorce rate. Consequently, the question arises as to why one of the family members decides to divorce their spouse.

Five Major Reasons for Divorce

It is no secret that each family is unique and different from the other. Therefore, there are many prerequisites and reasons why one or both parties eventually decide to divorce. Experts and researchers have identified several factors leading to it. These are lack of commitment, frequent arguments, adultery, and marriage at a young age, unfulfilled or unrealistic expectations (“Divorce statistics”). It is noteworthy that there are other reasons such as inequality in relationships, an ill-conceived decision to marry, and domestic abuse or violence (“Divorce statistics”). These are scientifically proven main drivers in one or both parties’ decision to divorce.

A Ray of Hope for the Family Institution

The above mentioned facts might give the impression that the state of the modern family institution is tragic. However, there is a growing positive trend associated with millennials, according to recent research. Researchers note that “millennials are choosing to wait longer to get married and stay married longer and are the main driver in the decline of both the marriage and divorce rate in the US” (“Divorce statistics“). It needs to be mentioned that the number of marriages is decreasing as well. Sociologists will only be able to draw concrete conclusions after more millennials reach the average age of marriage.

Media Hysteria around Divorce Rate

Over the past decade, hysteria has been created around the divorce rate by Western media. According to Ames, “divorces have risen at their sharpest rate in almost 50 years.” What is more shocking is that divorce rate data has been misinterpreted. The truth is that most journalists and even some researchers often confuse crude divorce rates with refined ones. It may seem that the crude divorce rate is high especially compared to the marriage rate. In fact, the refined divorce rate “per 1000 married women is 16.9” (“Divorce statistics”). Therefore, the actual divorce percentage is much lower than shown in the news article cited above. One might wonder why news articles are showing unrealistic data.

Misinterpretation in Media

There are three reasons why news writers and analysts misinterpret sociological statistics. One of them is a lack of understanding of statistical data and methods of its collection and analysis (“Misinterpretation of statistics”). Moreover, news article writers sometimes use incomparable definitions and concepts and add additional irrelevant qualities to them (“Misinterpretation of statistics”). News articles are also often subject to writers’ personal bias (“Misinterpretation of statistics”). They also add fictional facts and data to get more attention and clicks (“Misinterpretation of statistics”). All this is harmful both for journalism and for society.