?Children of today are citizens of tomorrow.? How can one stay in a society peopled by citizens who are unhappy, academically weak and hence economically regressive?
This is not an exaggeration, but a near-term possibility if the current trend of high divorce rates continues.
A Society with Unhappy People
Children of divorced parents are prone to turn victims of abuse. Neglect and abuse turn these unfortunate children to seek recourse in drugs (Children of fatherless families are 10 times more prone to substance abuse.).
Society is deeply impacted by emotionally unhappy children who might turn drug addicts or even commit suicide.
This negative impact does not last for just a generation. Children of divorce lose trust in family and relationship. They themselves turn abusive spouses and would divorce soon. Negativity is thus sustained.
The very structure of society is greatly affected if a major part of its citizens are psychologically affected and unhappy. 85% of the youth in jail belong to single parent families.
A Society with Academically Backward People
Children of divorced parents perform poorly in the 3 Rs of learning. That is reading, writing and arithmetic. Poor academic performers reduce economic progress and development of the society.
Economic Backwardness Impacts Society
Families who were not poor fell into economic hardships after the disunion. Most of the financial sufferers are families with a solitary mother and her children. A divorced family experiences a fall in income by about 50%. With this reduction, the family slips into previously unknown levels of poverty.
The family is forced to shift to a different neighbourhood. An economically poor neighbourhood and the lack of adequate finances at home hamper the personality development of these children.
Lack of Religion erodes Positive Values
Divorce reduces faith. Religion no longer plays a positive role in such families. Lack of faith, in other words, means a lack of positive optimism. Faith promotes optimism which leads to a fulfilling and healthy life.
Increasing divorce rates are damaging the social fabric. The introduction of the no fault divorce has increased divorce rates by 30%. A reversal in this trend cannot be brought by making the divorce laws more stringent. The very attitude of the people towards divorce has to be changed.
Divorce and Changes in the Attitude of the People
People of the UK have a very liberal attitude towards divorce. The term ?divorce? no longer has a social stigma attached to it.
Such attitudinal shift towards marriage and divorce occurs during times of economic prosperity. Economic progress and divorce rates share a direct relationship. Financial hardship reduces the rates of divorce. This indicates that couples find it easier to separate and get remarried when they are economically prosperous.
People also marry early during the days of economic progress. 50% of the teen marriages that took place during periods of economic prosperity end in subsequent divorce.
Many couples have increased emotional and economic expectations from a marital union. When these expectations are not met, they seek fulfilment elsewhere. They feel that their spouse is not capable enough to rise up to their expectations. In such a situation, they fail to appreciate the consistency offered by marital stability. High expectations lead to high divorce rates.
The current high rates of divorce are due to the changes in attitude of the people. Making the divorce laws more severe would only amount to a symptomatic cure of the disease rather than its elimination.
The very thought process of the people towards marriage and expectations from the spouse should be reoriented. Otherwise this creates a cyclic effect. Divorce perpetuates divorce. And in this process the structure of society gets damaged. A point worth mentioning here is that, marital disunion or the disunion of cohabitating couples, both have the same negative impact on children.
