Divorce Warm-up: You have probably known someone who has gone through a divorce

Divorce

Warm-up:

You have probably known someone who has gone through a divorce.

What were the positive outcomes of the divorce?

What were the negative outcomes?

Do you think they could have worked it out?

Do you think it would have been better if they did?

Divorce

• More than half of the children born in 1994 will spend some or all of their childhood in a single-parent home (McLanahan 1994).
• Approximately half of all first marriages will end in divorce (Census Bureau 1992).

1/ Hispanics may be of any race.

Dash ("-") Represents or rounds to zero.

Note: Prior to 2001, this table included group quarters people.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2008 Annual Social and Economic Supplement

Internet Release Date: January 2009

Divorce Overview

• Young couples marrying for the first time face roughly a 40-50% chance of divorce (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P23-180, 1992, p. 5).
• Many other couples are in stable but chronically distressed marriages.
• Adults and children are at increased risk for mental and physical problems due to marital distress (e.g., Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1994; Coie et al. 1993; Coyne, Kahn, & Gotlib, 1987; Cowan & Cowan, 1992; Fincham, Grych, & Osborne, 1993).

Divorce Overview (continued)

• Mismanaged conflict predicts both marital distress and negative effects for children (e.g., Gottman, 1994; Markman & Hahlweg, 1993; Clements, Stanley, & Markman, 1997; Cowan & Cowan, 1992; Grych & Fincham, 1990).
• Conflicts at home lead to decreased work productivity, especially for men (e.g., Forthofer, Markman, Cox, Stanley, & Kessler, 1996).
• The "triple threat" of marital conflict, divorce, and out-of-wedlock births has led to a generation of U.S. children at great risk for poverty, alienation, and antisocial behavior.