Empirical data on divorce, beyond opinion

Second of three parts

AMID the highly opinionated debates about divorce, here is the second part of a three-part article which presents empirical evidence about divorce. These data are derived from countries which have divorce. Given these, we may be able to deduce some lessons on the social, psychological and familiar impact of divorce.

The first part of this article highlighted the disclaimer that while these data are snapshots of evidence that were made available through research, they can neither generalize, upon which conclusions may be drawn, nor predict the future circumstances that are forthcoming should divorce be legalized in the country.

The first part identified that in the US, the average length of a marriage prior to divorce is eight years and that 43 percent of all marriages are dissolved. There are higher chances of marital failure with second (60 percent) and third (73 percent) marriages. Living together prior to marriage is one predictor of the likelihood of divorce.

There seems to be a social contagion as studies show that couples who have friends who divorce have a risk of their marriage ending. Causes of divorce include lack of commitment (75 percent), infidelity (60 percent) and domestic violence was the ultimate cause of divorce for 21 percent of couples, and 12 percent said substance abuse was the deciding issue. Forty-five percent rationalized the excuse of having been married too young, with 72 percent of couples reporting they didn't fully understand marriage.

Money is a leading cause of marital conflict (38 percent). Living below the poverty level can cause enormous stress and that as many as 46 percent of adults ages 18 to 55 who live below the poverty level have divorced. Also, in 2021, 21 percent of divorces involved men not in the labor force, and 22 percent of divorces involved women who were not working. But as studies suggest that increasing income can reduce the risk of divorce, once income climbs too high, a different set of complications can threaten the stability of a marriage.

Education level affects the chances of a marriage succeeding. Note the divorce rate for people across education indicates that highly educated are least likely to divorce.

At the losing end

The major consideration in many debates about divorce is the children. It is also important to note that violence in a home is never acceptable and can have serious adverse effects on children's behavior, development, academic success and future health. As divorce ends the family dynamics that pose a threat to children, do these children end up as beneficiaries of divorce?

A study on the impact of family structure on the health of children: effects of divorce by Jane Anderson (National Library of Medicine, 2014) notes that while the child and each family are obviously unique, despite these differences, divorce has been shown to diminish a child's future competence in all areas of life, including family relationships, education, emotional well-being and future earning power.

Two large meta-analyses, one reported in 1991 and the other, reported 10 years later, in 2001, showed that "children with divorced parents continued to score significantly lower on measures of academic achievement, conduct, psychological adjustment, self-concept and social relations" (Amato and Keith, 1991).

New home setup

Shared custody has become the norm as societal views on parenting that continuously build a relationship with both parents post-divorce. In fact, contrary to the popular notion, only 5.8 percent of children under 18 lived exclusively with their mother following a divorce.

The child loses time with each parent as parents must adjust to their own losses as well and to their new role as a divorced parent. Children living with a divorced parent were more likely to live in a household below the poverty level (28 percent) compared with other children (19 percent), US Census, 2011. The fraction of children living in single-parent households is the strongest negative correlate of upward income mobility according to one study (Chetty, 2014).

Emotional effects

The child may lose emotional security (Amato and Afifi, 2006) as divorced mothers are less able to provide emotional support (Miller and Davis, 1997) and divorced fathers are rated as less caring by their adolescents (Dunlop, et al., 2001) and difficult to trust (King, 2002). The child may lose family traditions, celebrations and daily routines, and even adult children whose adult parents divorced later in life experienced the loss of family traditions and disruption of celebrations (Pett, 1992).

The child may decrease social and psychological maturation, and may have lower scores on self-concept and social relations (Amato, 2001). Their anxiety and depression seem to worsen after the divorce event (Strohschein, 2005) needing increased social approval (Jeynes, 2001). There is a notable early sexual debut among girls (Jonsson, 2000) and more likely to become pregnant as adolescents than girls from intact families (Ellis, 2013).

In Sweden, a study of almost 1 million children demonstrated that children growing up with single parents were more than twice as likely to experience a serious psychiatric disorder, commit or attempt suicide, or develop an alcohol addiction (Brown, 1998). Similarly, the CDC reported on adverse family experiences among children in non-parental care. The study found that children living with one biological parent were between three and eight times as likely (as children living with two biological parents) to have experienced neighborhood violence, caregiver violence or caregiver incarceration, or to have lived with a caregiver with mental illness, or an alcohol or drug problem (Bramlett, 2014).

It is also important to note that violence in a home is never acceptable and can have serious adverse effects on children's behavior, development, academic success and future health. In one study, the relative risk that children from a single-parent family would be physically abused or neglected is more than doubled (Family Structure and Children's Health in the United States, 2010).

On growth and development

A study of 11 industrialized countries showed that children living in two-parent families had higher math and science scores, and children of divorced parents are more likely to have lower grade point averages and be asked to repeat a year of school (Jeynes, 2000).

Fewer children in nuclear families (12 percent) were considered to be in poor health than children in nonnuclear families (22 percent), CDC, 2012.

As adults, the female children of divorced parents experience less trust and satisfaction in romantic relationships (Jaquet and Surra, 2001) and are less likely to view marriage as permanent and less likely to view it as a lifelong commitment (Weigel, 2007). The children of divorced parents are two to three times more likely to cohabit and to do so at younger ages (Amato and Booth 1997).

As adults, those raised in step-families are less likely to be religious than those raised by both biological parents (Myers, 1996) and following a divorce, children are more likely to abandon their faith (Feigelman, et al., 1992).

These data present empirical perspective to the growing debate and fear of, yet, the unknown implications for Filipino families and society. Only another set of data can prove this evidence wrong. More perspectives coming up next ... maybe, the other side of the coin.

To be continued next Friday, June 21, 2024