Adapted from Diversity in Families by Baca Zinn & Eitzen 7th ed. 2005 Divorce Adapted from Diversity in Families by Baca Zinn & Eitzen 7th ed. 2005

40%-52% of all 1st marriages divorce Center for Disease Control and Prevention study (2001) Pg. 395 Zinn & Eitzen

Divorce Trends

Social & economic conditions Rates increased since 1860 Declining since 1981 Social & economic conditions Has increased after WWI & WWII Decreased during depression Increased in prosperous 1970s Highest rate of any of the nine major industrial nations

Factors Correlated with Divorce

Cohort Born during the same time period

Premarital Cohabitation Tend to be younger Less traditional marital expectations More approving of divorce Used to greater freedom in cohabitation relationship Even higher divorce rates for cohabitators of divorced parents or if stepchildren

Age at first marriage 59% of marriages for women under 18 end in divorce w/in 15 yrs. (compared to 36% for 20 & older) Lack maturity Lack of experience in relationships Restricted opportunities for college Financial difficulties Premarital pregnancy common reason for early marriage (enter for wrong reasons)

Circumstances of 1st birth Premarital pregnancy & births Does not give couple time to adapt to married life Limits educational and career opportunities

Presence of children Couples w/ children less likely to divorce divorce increases w/ more than 4 divorce lower w/ kids under age of 3, higher over age 13 Divorce higher for couples w/ only daughters

Income Poor are 2x more likely to divorce than not poor Worse for African Americans

Race African Americans have highest divorce rate Slavery myth. Happening only since last 50 years. It is the poor in cities (jobs left the Rustbelt for the Sunbelt) Latinos divorce rate similar to whites share same economic disadvantage new immigrants lower divorce rate than third generation (zinn & eitzen study pg. 403)

Religion Divorce rates (24% of all adults have experienced at least 1 divorce during their lifetime) Jews 30% Baptist 29% Born Again 27% Mainline Protestant and Mormon 25% Atheists, agnostics, Lutherans, Catholics 21%

Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce Parental divorce approximately doubled the odds that offspring would experience divorce Reasons Children of divorce usually live w/ mom which means decline in standard of living Experiencing parents divorce may lead to depression, anxiety, stress (maybe long term effects) Parents as bad role model

Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce Seems to be lessening Declined by almost 50% in 25 years ending in 1996 Stigma reduced no fault divorces reduced harmful divorces