Introduction
In the contemporary world, divorce is among the growing social problems, especially in the western countries. The divorce rate in the countries such as Czech Republic, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, Denmark, Sweden, and Canada among other developed countries is alarming. For instance, the 1,083 divorces were recorded in Luxembourg in 2009, which was an increase from 1,052 from 2009 (Eurostat 2010, p.35). Sociologists consider the deteriorating rate of divorce as a social problem that can be solved by preventing unwise marriage rather than keeping people together in the happy marriages. While some sociologist suggests that the problem is caused by the immorality and physical problems, others believe that the economic and social conditions such as religion, urbanization, industrialization, and women's suffrage. In the western countries, families are facing challenges to adjust to the contemporary lifestyle of the modern era, and consequently escalating the divorce rate. With this light, this paper provides the most common causes of the divorce to help examine why the divorce rate is escalating in the western countries.
One of the factors resulting in the increase in the divorce rate in the western countries is the cultural factors. In the modern world, the rate of divorce correlates with the change of culture norms such as secularization trends, liberalization of the norm with relation to the individual choice, and the declining influence of the religious in the today's marriages. According to Ambert (2009, p.13), "the religious aspect is now largely missing in the institution of marriage: this is often referred to as the discretization of marriage." Today, many marriages are considered as the individual choice instead of the covenant before, and this has resulted in fall of marriage institution because of incompatibility and personality differences.
The socio-cultural trends have significantly contributed to the establishment of the new divorce laws. Divorce laws such as those enacted in 1968 and 1985 in Canada have contributed to the increase in the divorce rate because they are the stepping-stone for the normalization of divorce. Divorce has now become normal aspect in the society because it has lost its essence, and became more socially acceptable. For instance, permissive legislation in some countries such as Netherlands has contributed to the normalization of divorce (Frejka, Hoem, and Sobotka, 2008 p.112). In such countries, legislation has resulted in the unanticipated consequence of the law establishing a new form of registered partnership. For this perspective, couples usually reduce their marriage into registered partnership that can be easily dissolved without being recorded as divorce. Therefore, the legal factors have allowed people to losses the perspective of the marriage as an institution and subsequently adopting divorce as the only way out.
The rising concept of individualism and independence has also contributed to the escalating rate of divorce in the Western countries. The modern socioeconomic factors are encouraging the increase of the economic independent women. Women are increasingly participating in the labor force, hence becoming economically active, and subsequently providing fertile grounds for divorce (Frejka, Hoem, and Sobotka, 2008 p.112). On the other hand, the rise of individualism in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom has emphasized on the individual rights instead of duties. Individualism enhances ideologies such as gratification, specifically psychological and sexual, which tends to affect the marriages. As a result, marriage is shifting from an institution based on the mutual responsibilities to an institution centered on fulfillment, the pursuit of happiness, and companionship. Marriage institution has defined with the personal gratification. Ambert asserts (2009, p.14), "individualistic marriages, spouses view the marriage as valuable as long as it meets their needs for personal growth and self-actualization." Eventually, when a partner feels that these needs are not fulfilled, they tend to seek a new partner who can satisfy them, and this may result in the collapse of the marriage. In other words, these trends have influenced Westerners to develop a lower threshold of tolerance when their marriage fails to accomplish the intended goal of personal fulfillment (Ambert, 2009, p.14).
Another category of the factors that explain why the divorce rate is increasing among the Westerners is the demographic factors. One of the demographic factor to consider is the age. In the western and developed countries, people are achieving economic independence at a younger age, which encourages them to enter into the marriage. For instance, in Sweden, young women abandoned their parental home at the age of 20 compared to Denmark and Finland where women left at the age between 20 and 21 in 2013 (Eurostat, 2015). As a result, this trend threatens the marriage institution and hence more possibilities of divorce. According to various studies, there is a positive relationship between the young people in marriage and increase in divorce. In other words, younger people are more prone to divorce compared to the older and mature people. This is because younger people are challenged by the lack of experience and maturity required to facilitate the marital relationship. Other risk factors for the younger people in the marriage are the low educational levels and the low income (Ambert, 2009, p.14).
The increasing rate of remarriages is another demographic factor that contributes to divorce in the western countries. According to Ambert, remarriage is considered as one of the risk factors due to the complexities of the reconstituted families. Many people who participate in different marriages tends to compare their prevailing marriages with the previous one, which affect their relationship. This trend is becoming more striking. Derived from the Statistics Canada in 2003, Ambert suggests, "in 2000, 33% of all marriages had one or both partners who had been previously divorced and, of these, well over a third included two previously-divorced persons" (Ambert, 2009, p.14). Therefore, as the number of the remarriage cases increases, the higher chances of increasing rate of divorce in the Western countries.
The parental divorce has contributed to the normalization of the divorce among the children. When the parents divorce, they introduce their children to a society where divorce is a normal norm and acceptable. Various research projects indicate that there is a positive relationship between the parental divorce and the higher rates of divorce among children when they achieve the appropriate age to enter into marriage (Ambert, 2009, p.14). Surprisingly, such incidences are bound to happen when the low level of conflict prevails in the parental marriage. The fundamental reason for divorce in such marriage is mostly that parents are less committed to marriage and might end up influencing their children. Parents might be less committed to their marriage because of other factors such as career and other social, economic factors.
Noticeably, the increasing trend of the religious differences in many countries such as European countries has contributed to the escalating rate of divorce. For instance, in the United States, 47 percent of the marriages that involved Jews between 1996 and 2001 were interfaith marriages. In addition, 45 percent of the Muslim community were marrying outside their faith in the United States (InterfaithShaadi.org, 2009). According to Ambert (2009, p.15), the religious difference among other factors has resulted to a low religiosity, which implies that that the marital happiness is declining while the propensity to divorce is increasing. With the increase of cultural diversity and its integration into the marriage institution, many couples are struggling to cope with their different religious background, which has a long-term effect on their marriage. The interfaith marriages are at risk of divorce, because of various issues such as conflict based on the partner roles.
When people from different faith engage in a marriage, they face various challenges and critics that adversely affects their relationship. For instance, InterfaithShaadi.org reveals that the challenges become harder when the interfaith couple has to decide the religious fate of their children. Various religions have a different perspective of introducing children into the religion. In Christianity, the child must be baptized with water as a sign of salvation while in Islamic, a child must receive religious circumcision, have Sunat, and only receive the teachings of the Islamic faith. Contrary, a Jewish child participates into a Bris Ceremony to be announced as a Jew. Such situation provides risk factors for divorce and helps to explain the prevailing trend of divorce among the Westerners. Ambert asserts that religious, and especially the racial heterogamy is among the risk factors for the marital instability, mostly because the involved couples lack shared values (Ambert, 2009, p.15).
Other factors that explain the increasing rate of divorce in the Western countries include financial matters, communication issues, infidelity and affairs, and sexual problems. People in developed would encounter financial problems that are associated with overspending and priorities. Couples with the difference in financial matters such as savings, borrowing, and luxuries are prone to the turbulent relationship, which may result to divorce. In addition, increase cases of the infidelity in the contemporary world are placing many marriages at a great risk. Long-term or frequent cheating with various partners erodes trust in the relationship, which consequently creates drift among the partners. For instance, according to, infidelity in Romania is the main cause of divorce with 7.2 percent, followed by alcoholism and physical violence with 5 percent and 5.2 percent respectively (Eurostat, 2012, p.51).
As the technology advances, the communication issues among the married partners increases and hence threatening their relationship. Psychologists consider poor communication styles as a major predictor of the divorce in the modern society. Communication issues evident today include mixed messages, nagging or constant complaining, being judgmental, and interrupting each other. Such incidences are the main indicators of the conflict within marriages. In addition, factors such as boredom, poor diet, and healthy factors are affecting the sex drive and consequently causing the sexual problems. As a result, increased sexual incompatibility is a major risk factor for divorce.
In conclusion, it is evident that several factors such as cultural factors, demographic factors, and other factor are the main predictor of the high divorce rate in Western countries. From the cultural perspective, discretization of marriage, socio-cultural trends, normalization of divorce, and the concept of individualism and independence are among the factors that explain the divorce problem in Western countries. On the other hand, age, increasing rate of remarriages, parental divorce, and low religiosity are among the demographic factors that cause divorce. Other factors that explain the increasing rate of divorce in the Western countries include financial matters, communication issues, infidelity and affairs, and sexual problems.
References
Ambert, A., 2009. Divorce: Facts, causes and consequences . Ottawa, ON: Vanier Institute of the Family. Contemporary Family Trends
Eurostat. 2012. Demographic outlook National reports on the demographic developments in 2010 (ISSN 1977-0375). Retrieved from European Union website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/products-statistical-working-papers/-/KS-RA-12-004
Eurostat. 2015. Being young in Europe today - family and society - Statistics Explained. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Being_young_in_Europe_today_-_family_and_society
Frejka, T., Hoem, J. M., Toulemon, L., & Sobotka, T. 2008. Childbearing trends and policies in Europe. Rostock, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.
Interfaithshaadi.org. 2009. 45% of Muslims Marry Outside Their Faith in America. Retrieved from http://www.interfaithshaadi.org/blog/?p=173
