Why is divorce rate so high in America?

20 comments

1. Because there’s no stigma against divorce, so a marriage is more or less identical to “going steady,” except with a bit of government paperwork.

   And guess what – couples break up.

2. [removed]

3. Because staying in a bad marriage isn’t healthy.

4. High compared to what?

5. Below are the twelve countries with the highest divorce rates worldwide through 2021 data:

   * Maldives 5.52
   * Kazakhstan 4.6
   * Russia 4.4
   * Belarus 3.7
   * China 3.2
   * Cuba 2.9
   * Finland 2.4
   * Sweden 2.5
   * Denmark 2.7
   * Ukraine 3.1
   * Nigeria 2.9
   * Canada 2.8

   U.S. is 2.3 (per 1,000 people)

   [Source](https://divorce.com/blog/divorce-rates-in-the-world/#averageDivorce)

6. Apparently the people at high risk of divorce are those who marry at a young age, have less education, have less income, who live together before marriage, have a child before marriage, have no religious affiliation, or their parents are divorced.
   All are common, not just in the US.

   Source: https://yourdivorcequestions.org/how-common-is-divorce/

7. The U.S. isn’t even in the top 10 countries with the highest divorce rate.

8. If someone gets married five times and gets divorced every time that counts as five marriages ending in divorce, which drives the divorce rate up. Most first marriages do not end in divorce.

9. Because marriage for marriage’s sake has been a big cultural feature for a long time. In other countries, cohabitation and even long term committed relationships without marriage aren’t stigmatized the way they long have been in the US. So the cultural default has been to marry. I don’t think relationships in the US are more likely to fail in the US than in other, similar countries, but the premium put on marriage means there are more divorces.

10. In order to have a high divorce rate, people have to actually get married, which rules out most of Western Europe.

    And they have to actually be able to get a divorce, which rules out most of the Middle East and South Asia (at least on a practical level).

    In a country which is just traditional enough that marriage is still desired, and not traditional enough that divorce is impossible, this is what happens.

11. We are encouraged to marry young, before we’ve figured out who we are. Both partners then change dramatically.

12. – no fault divorce
    – lack of respect of institution of marriage

13. Perhaps it’s because people don’t take time to get to know themselves, let alone the person they think is banging them so “good”… which leads to all kinds of things imo.

14. The US divorce rate skyrocketed when laws were changed to make divorce possible for anyone rather than limiting it to the wealthy or extremely determined.

    Turns out that when people in an unhappy marriage have the option to divorce rather than stay many people take that option. This is seen in pretty much all countries. Easy, unstigmatized divorce options lead to more divorces.

15. It would have been higher earloer of women had more means to financial independence. A lot of marriages of the boomer generation and earlier only survived because it wasn’t realistic for women to be financially secure on their own with the rampant sexism and enforced gender roles. It’s not perfect now by any means, but it’s light years easier for women to leave marriages where they’re unhappy or being abused.

16. I’m for sure bias, but I think the fact that so many people grow up in rather sheltered environments has something to do with this.

    I live in West Michigan, so again, a biased vision. It’s an extremely Christian region (like fire and brimstone Christian Reformed religious, with a large evangelical community, and it’s a region known for very far-right organization and politics). Over here, it’s not at all uncommon to see people getting married between the ages of 18 and 24. I’ve never seen such a high volume of “high school sweethearts” marrying each other. However, divorces still seem just as common. I also know from my own upbringing, religion heavily influenced my thoughts on marriage.

    What’s the skewed idea? Marriage is mandatory and required…if you don’t do it by a certain time/age, you’ll be damaged goods and a failure to “God.” Result: A lot of people overly romanticize marriage and put the “goal” on a pedestal as the ultimate form of success. Therefore many rush to it to fulfill meaningless expectations for others, and it’s all done at a time when people barely know themselves as an adult…as they go through their adult life and break away from the same environment they grew up in, their beliefs, perspectives, and experiences change their outlook on life, marriage, love, etc.

    Personally, I don’t think this needs to change either. There’s nothing wrong with divorce, and a lot of places in the U.S. still direct or force young people to inauthentic beliefs and experiences.

17. Boomers got married at a young age which is rarely a good idea.

    Younger generations are delaying marriage or are fine with cohabitation.

18. It’s not that high. We’re like #15 and right around China and below the EU.

    Divorce is going to be lower in highly religious countries, where it is far more difficult to attain.

19. Is it?

20. Because its encouraged by the state.