While this may not mean much to my friends who will enjoy their happily ever after, I'm also facing my first set of friends contemplating divorce. I grew up in an environment where divorce was almost non-existent, so I've often asked myself WHY people are opting for divorce more and more commonly these days? Anyways, passed this PURELY OPINION answer by Dr. Yvonne Fulbright on Fox News and although not supported by any "statistics" or minimal research- it just makes sense.
Ms. Fulbright's Answer:
There are tons of reasons why. But in a nutshell, major players are: (1) people making bad decisions; (2) issues involving female empowerment; and (3) people having a warped sense of what commitment is all about.
Let’s start with the bad choices. A lot of people are going into “’til death do us part” unions simply because they’re feeling pressured to get hitched. Whether they’re feeling pressure from a partner to step up or step out, by parents or family, or by a society, everyone thinks that we have to get married since we’ve been taught that marriage is an achievement. So a lot of people are going into marriages half-heartedly, which makes it really hard to stick with their lifelong promise.
Women’s rights have also played a role in that we have a lot more choices these days. We women are not only moving into the workforce and putting in long hours, but we’re making more money and are the breadwinner in many unions as well. And this leads to increased marital tension in some homes. Better educated and with more economic opportunities, women now have the option of taking care of themselves if they choose to leave a marriage. We don’t have to stay in bad marriages. We’re able to take care of ourselves and our children.
Lastly, many social commentators feel that since divorce is so common, many enter a marriage knowing that they can always leave. People have seen their parents and other people in their family get divorced, so they see it as an easy out. They’ve been shown that if things get rough, they can just leave. While some unions aren’t meant to last for very good reason, e.g., spousal abuse, many are choosing to take the easy way out instead of dealing with issues.
