Divorce Around the World Essay

Marriage, once viewed as the cornerstone of society, has come under increased threat on its viability and importance in the society based on the number of divorces faced across the world. Different nations experience varying levels of divorce rates as influenced by country or society-specific factors that may not be replicable in another nation such as religion, income, and so on. Comparing United States, Spain, and China can reveal important insights into trends and underlying reasons for the varying divorce rates in the three nations.

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Divorce rates across the U.S., Spain, and China vary significantly but reflect the global trend where the vice has increasing. According to Robinson, globally, divorce in marriages have increased 251% since the 1960's as shown in the graph below.

In the United States, the divorce rate stands at 3.2 per 1000 population based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2016 data (CDC). Such rates make the United States among the leading nations globally in the number of marriage that end in divorce. On the other hand, Spain has a rate of 2.1 per 1000 population based on 2015 statistics (Piirtju). On the other hand, China has divorce rate of 3.02 per 1000 people. While the three countries have almost similar rates of divorce, the underlying factors different significantly.

Different factors underlie divorces in each country. While they may be similar, there degree of influence to the total number of divorces may differ significantly. For example, in the United States, the leading causes of marriages include basic compatibility (43%), infidelity (28%), and money issues (22%), and emotional and/or physical abuse at 5.8% (Idfa). For a long time, the divorce rate in Spain was one of the lowest in Europe until and express law that made it easier to divorce was introduced in 2005. Under the law, divorce law is based "no-cause" approach where one does not need to file a reason for divorce. In China, just like Spain, had previously low rates of divorce. However, changes in law, modernization, and economic success of a growing segment of the populations means that people and especially women are more empowered and willing to take the risk for divorce as they can provide for themselves. In the country, financial misunderstandings, infidelity, and incompatibility remain leading causes of divorce rates. Further, the erosion of religion in the country that made it difficult for people to seek divorce has also played a major role in the increasing divorce rates in the China. Consequently, while the underlying reason may vary in terms of their contribution to the divorce rates, they are similar in the three countries, and across the world, and include infidelity, financial issues, and incompatibility among others.

As a social workers, the advice that I would offer for Spanish and American couples is similar but slightly different for the Chinese ones. Firstly, the first two nations face similar reasons that are supported by the similarities in development and religion among other considerations. Consequently, I would recommend openness in communication relating to emotions and financials. On the other hand, while I would provide a similar counsel to Chinese couples, I would also encourage familial support from immediate and extended families. The Chinese society is highly collectivist and as such, the ongoing development and urbanization have put couple in lonely locations where they lack support and guidance from other members of the society. Consequently, encouraging more interactions with family members can play a major role in reducing divorce rates.

Works Cited

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Marriage and Divorce: Data for U.S." Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage-divorce.htm. Accessed 16 April 2018.

Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA). "Survey: Certified Divorce Financial Analyst-Professionals Reveal the Leading Causes of Divorce." Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts, 2013, https://institutedfa.com/Leading-Causes-Divorce. Accessed 16 April 2018.

Piirtju, Diskusia. "Crude Divorce Rate, Selected Years, 1960-2015 (Per 1000 Persons)." EuroStat, 2 June 2017, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Crude_divorce_rate,_selected_years,_1960-2015_(per_1_000_persons).png&oldid=339021. Accessed 16 April 2018.

Robinson, Emma: "Infographic: Global Divorce rates." Amicable, https://amicable.io/infographic-global-divorce-rates,. Accessed 16 April 2018.

Statista. " Divorce Rate in China from 2006 and 2016 (per 1,000 population)" Statista, 2017, https://www.statista.com/statistics/279449/divorce-rate-in-china/. Accessed 16 April 2018.