Effects of Divorce

Almost 50% of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce or separation. Divorce affects not only the parents, but it also affects everyone else, especially the children. I’ve watched close families get torn apart because of divorce. My aunt and uncle had been married for 25 years when they decided to get married. It affected their children big time, but it always affected other family members. It was really hard for their children to understand why they needed to get divorce but my uncle immediately moved out. The situation got bad when my uncle turned some of their own children against my aunt. He let them do whatever they wanted and it was crazy to see that as kind and fun as my cousins still were, they had changed. No one in that family is active in the church. It was hard to know that I would probably never get to see my uncle again. He was a good man, but just made some mistakes after the divorce. It was hard to here what was going on between them even after the divorce. My cousins switch off between living with their mom or dad. After divorce, it’s hard for family members to forgive each other and especially hard to move on.

Lack of commitment is the most common reason given by divorce couples according to the recent national survey. Lack of commitment is at 73% while arguing is at 56%, and infidelity right after that at 55%. Lack of commitment means that there was lack of equality in the marriage, or lack of preparation in the marriage, or even abuse. Couples don’t want to commit to each other when the realize that they should’ve taken more time to get to know each other before they got married. They may have gotten married and then decided later on in the marriage that they didn’t know certain things about their significant other. They may have rushed into marriage before knowing if that person is the right one for them.

Arguing is second in a relationship because there can be so many things that a couple can come to disagreements on. Money is a big one. Couples can get into debt or start to hide things from each other. It’s sad to see that there are arguments so bad that lead to divorce. Arguing affects not only the couple, but the family as well. It turns the family against each other.

Infidelity is almost the second most common reason for divorce. Infidelity leads to extreme emotional tension between the couple. Trust becomes a huge issue in the marriage. Couples may be unhappy with their marriage so they turn to other things. Although not all marriages end in divorce after this kind of situation, it can be very hard to trust that person and can feel like they were betrayed.

One other thing that can be hard to see in divorce is that all the single mom’s and dad’s have to find a way to provide for their children and for themselves. Single mother’s especially struggle with this. They have to find a job and be the provider of the house now. It can be hard to find jobs that pay enough to support them as well as their children. Another thing that can be hard is to see how family members are turned against each other. Children can think that it could be either parents fault and blame everything on them. Divorce affects each child in a different way so it’s hard to know how the children feel when each one feels it differently. Divorce is a hard thing to see. It can change that family for the better sometimes, or it can tear them apart.