Long-term Social Effects of a High Divorce Rate

The changing face of marital relations is determining new family dynamics, which will have an adverse effect on the future of the society. We should bear in mind that children of divorce will become future citizens of tomorrow and our society will look very different because of them.

Absence of a parent: Divorce invariably alienates the child from one of the parents. In most cases, the custody is awarded to the mother. Therefore, most the children of divorce tend to grow up without having their father around for the most of the time. This trend of growing up without a significant presence of a father figure has adverse effects on the mental and physical well being of a girl as well as a boy child.

Growing up without one parent can lead to psychological problems amongst the children, which can directly have an impact on the society that we live in. Children growing up without one parent are more likely to have unstable relationships in future and are more likely to be confused about their gender. The latter can be especially true if the child is staying with the parent of the opposite sex.

Children of Divorce Tend More Likely to Become Delinquents: Recent studies have proved that children who grow up in a divorced home are more likely to engage in criminal activities. In fact, such children are likely to become delinquents by the age of 15, regardless of when the divorce occurred.

Boys who come from divorced families are twice as likely to end up behind the bars than boys from intact families. In addition, they also displayed signs of physical abuse, violence against women, child abuse, and drug abuse.

Children of Divorce likely to Experience Poverty: Children of divorce are more likely to drop out of schools because of lower academic achievement. Therefore, they are less likely to build successful careers, which will keep their standard of living low in their future. This increases their chances of poverty in their adult lives.

Impact of Divorce on Girls: According to recent studies, the impact of a divorce can be more pronounced amongst the girl child. Girls tend to skip school more frequently and display more depressive behaviour than the boys. In addition, girls tend to face self-esteem issues that can affect their personalities for the rest of their lives. They are more likely to engage in unsafe sex and become teenage mothers.

Impact on Stepchildren: The age of divorce has given rise to step relations. When divorced people tend to remarry, it can have far-reaching consequences for the children. Research indicates that stepchildren are abused physically, sexually, and psychologically than children from intact families. These circumstances further damage the fragile minds of the children, leading them to engage in disruptive behaviour in general as well as in their future relationships.

Divorce Impacts Health and Mental well being of Adults: Recent studies have indicated that married people are more likely to be happy and content with their lives. On the contrary, divorced individuals are more likely to face psychological problems of some kind.

The trauma of divorce and an unsuccessful relationship affects future relationships in a way that the cycle of unsuccessful relationships may become hard to break. This can partly be attributed to the attitude of people towards divorce.

Successful, mentally and physically fulfilling relationships, as we know, may cease to exist completely in the future. Divorced individuals are more likely to indulge in alcoholism and suicides. If such individuals have children, it can have extremely detrimental consequences of their psychological wellness.

High divorce rates will have an impact on how people plan their families. Most people tend to fear divorce and delay planning children because they adopt the approach of “wait and watch”. Some people tend to go through so many divorces in their lives that they never get a chance to plan for children. When individuals wait for too long to have children, they are bound to experience fertility problems.

Divorce Impacts The Quality of Life of Individuals: Married people are more likely to be productive on their job and subsequently, earn more. Therefore, they are likely to save more, have a better mental health and tend to live longer. On the contrary, divorced people tend to be less motivated and tend to be unhappy with their jobs, save less, and spend more because of their unfulfilling lives.