Divorce and the Groups More Likely to Divorce Essay

Divorce is the annulment of a marriage by a court of law or any other authorized bodies. The process follows legal procedures and ensures that both parties receive a fair and just separation. Both parties agree on the divorce and file a petition in court to steer the process and formalize it. In the petition are reasons for the divorce.

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Couples highly prone to divorce are the youth. These couples marry at a young age thus, lack experience and often to persevere less in case of conflicts in marriage hence easily tire. The age gap usually ranges from 20-25, which otherwise renders them in celebrity cultures 'starter marriages' that unfortunately fail to last for more than five years. For instance, England and Wales recorded a high number of divorces in the year 2009 by approximately 114,000, a fall by 6.4% as compared to the previous year contrary to the marriages involving couples at their 20s. Married couples at 25-29 years recorded twice the increase in the number of divorces proving that life-long unions are highly incompatible with the modern lifestyle (Amato, 2010).

Low-income couples or somewhat unemployed groups are also prone to earlier and high divorce rates. This is according to a study that proved the measure in a couple's wealth enough to suffice the relationship in terms of resources and affordability without having to strive so hard in order to cater for the couple's needs, or the needs of the individual spouse financially is essential in promoting sustainability in marriage so as to evade marriage dissolution. Either, unemployment and poverty majorly derail the marital status and progression of a couple, and this weakens the love and compassion between the husband and wife. Unemployment can also result in depression-related illnesses that further aid in the legal separation of the couple.

Premarital cohabitation has increased rampantly mostly in Europe with separation and divorce levels increasing, re-partnering either is becoming a common phenomenon. Approximately two-thirds of cohabiting couples transform to marriage with about a third of the marriages ending up divorced in ten years. This results due to the instability of cohabitation hence the prevalence in rising rates of dissolution (Levenson et al. 1993).

Impact of social status on the dissolution of marriage

A person's importance in connection with other people in the society dramatically influences the ending of one's marriage. Social status in such a case can be a person's standings in the community, prestige, duties of the latter, education level, income, and occupational class. Such hierarchies primarily hinder progressive comfortable marriage life bringing them to a halt. Unemployed husbands or wives tend to end in divorce earlier than a couple does with both husband and wife employed. This usually results since only a single member of the family hence most responsibilities are shifted to the sole breadwinner earns most of the income. Nonetheless, the couple starts to disagree financially and rendering the marriage on an annulment.

Also, there exist variations by cohorts (people with relatively similar characteristics). Educational levels, for instance, tend to be lower for older cohorts and thus explains more extended periods of marriages in older couples. Nonetheless, a shorter educational journey allows for the earlier development of marriages since most of the time is spent on structuring the marriage. Spouses with a long educational career tend to divorce their spouses at a previous stage due to the time and activity imbalance in the marriage; the spouse shifts all their focus to issues nonrelated to family and marriage hence dissolution of marriage.

The likelihood of a divorce can be influenced by social factors such as demanding jobs that in turn incorporate the spouse's significant percentage of time in the office. This increases the amount of pressure on them about family and marriage issues and therefore opt to give marriage a break ending up in a divorce. Some even carry their work along from the office, and at times business trips reduce the time for family bonding as the spouse is mostly at work (Levenson et al. 1993).

Parental divorces have an impact on the couple's children, even after several years of separation. While social factors such as acceptance and proximity to divorce as a possibility are a part of the case, scientists suggest the likelihood of a genetic factor linking the inherited personal characteristics. Education too can matter-spouses with completed four-year college stand a chance to last long in a marriage.

Social factors influencing dissatisfaction in marriage

Recreational habits have had a significant impact on the high rates of divorce globally. These habits can be drunkenness and too much partying. The use of drugs too can also steer a marriage into a divorce. Spouses with the addiction in either alcohol or drugs or both stand a chance to divorce at a higher rate immediately after their marriage. This is due to the health status of the victim that tends to prohibit much social interaction not only with the family or the spouse but also with the society. Addiction either can lead to vices such as misunderstanding and conflicts in the marriage and this, in turn, affects the children as they are forced to choose between their parents. However, parents that share the habit of doing drugs or drinking or both can last long in their marriage as none of them is a hindrance to the other in the marriage, and they tend to live comfortably in their situation.

While the ultimate age of marrying widely varies from couple to couple, marriage at the 20s increases the chances of dissolution above the spouses who are patient enough till early 30s or at late 20s (DeSimone-Luis et al. 1979).

In 1976, the Commonwealth brought divorce into operation under the Family Law Act 1975. This largely contributed to the high number of divorces in the United States and allowed spouses to separate after a year of marriage in case of breakdown. Such factors that facilitate the dissolution of marriage include cohabitation, birth cohort, ethnic backgrounds, religious reasons, infidelity, personal problems, growing apart, lack of communication and emotional or physical abuse.

For instance, women tend to report the highest number of physical abuse by their spouses. When matters get severe, men, often turn to a fistfight with their spouses ending up hurting them and at times rendering them disabled hence the high rate of marriage dissolution in marriages involving physical and mental abuse.

Ethnic backgrounds too can influence divorce in the sense that, African American people have a high likelihood of divorcing than their white counterparts since they are deemed to have poor marital nature. Either, research has shown that Hispanics and Mexicans share a similar marital trait to whites since they always have higher marriage rates, they embrace the marriage and usually report lower rates of divorce as compared to the blacks (Levenson et al. 1993).

In cases where spouses have differences in religion, the marriage is likely to break. Biblically, religion is purported to strengthen marriage ties and facilitate bonding in spouses. Some spouses worship in churches and others in synagogues, and this primarily reflects family traditions and the lifestyle that comes with the customs and at times social expediency which affects personal belief hence creating fuzzy boundaries between the different religious preferences of the couple and otherwise facilitating dissolution of the marriage.

Impacts of education levels and socioeconomic status on divorce rates

Socio-economic status is a broad term that refers to aspects of the economic and social position of each couple as well as individual spouse. Among the dimensions distinguished for each spouse are the level of education, economic activity, occupational class, and level of income. Nonetheless, measures of the couples housing density can also influence marriage and divorce status. Though the measures overlap to a high degree, they are distinguished both conceptually and empirically. For instance, the status of people with high education and low income is experienced in all aspects of the occupation.

Indicators of housing tenure reflect the couple's wealth, material investment, and standard of living of the spouses in a marriage. Union dissolution, being a life course circumstance, bears a negative impact on the housing careers of the individuals in a marriage. Moves related to divorce are always urgent and require at least one of the spouses to resettle somewhere else. Decision-making in such a scenario turns out to be cumbersome as the spouses often disagree with claims that the joint property belongs to both of the parties. If one partner decides to move out of the property, the other may choose to either stay or move out too. However, the partner with more significant resources and higher bargaining ability stands a chance of retaining the property with a high percentage of spouses who initiate the separation or commit themselves to other relationships having to move out (Jalovaara, M. 2001).

Additionally, after the divorce, the financial resources formally allocated to ex-spouses are put under limit due to losses in economies of scale and reduction in household income.

Impacts of inequality on marital satisfaction and marriage dissolution

Research has shown that money can be a significant source of conflict in a family between spouses. Income inequality poses a danger to marriage. For instance, spouses with college qualifications have a lower rate of divorcing as compared to uneducated spouses, the primary reason pointing at money. Having insufficient funds to sustain the family regarding paying the mortgage, providing necessities for the children damages the family's status tremendously.

Couples, however, vary regarding husband-wife inequality. Over the years, women's dependence on their husbands has rapidly reduced as more women are currently earning more of their families' income and the essential roles of sustaining the households are now played by them hence the increase in the purchase of joint properties. For instance, employed wives or wives with their bank accounts have high power in decision making than unemployed ones. Where power balance is relatively favorable for female spouses, the wives can use their bargaining power to acquire support awards and large property settlements in case of dissolution (DeSimone-Luis et al. 1979).

References

Amato, P. R. (2010). Research on divorce: Continuing trends and new developments. Journal of marriage and family, 72(3), 650-666.

DeSimone-Luis, J., O'Mahoney, K., & Hunt, D. (1979). Children of separation and divorce: Factors influencing adjustment. Journal of Divorce, 3(1), 37-42.

Jalovaara, M. (2001). Socio-economic status and divorce in first marriages in Finland 1991-93. Population Studies, 55(2), 119-133.

Levenson, R. W., Carstensen, L. L., & Gottman, J. M. (1993). Long-term marriage: Age, gender, and satisfaction. Psychology and aging, 8(2), 301.