Since the birth of America, a happy and healthy family has been the ideal. That ideal includes a husband, a wife, two point five children and a house with a white picket fence. Unfortunately, when we look around us we see families that are not whole, having been ripped apart by divorce. In fact, currently 50% of marriages now end in divorce, with second-marriages being even more likely to end in divorce. In examining the divorce rate over the past century we are able to see that the divorce rate has been increasing steadily since the early 1900s. However, the divorce rate in the mid to late 1800s was static and relatively low. So the question we must ask is why has the divorce rate been increasing steadily over the past century? In
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A divorce rate is defined as, “the number of divorces occurring among the population of a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population of the given geographical area during the same year.” The divorce rate over the past century is split up into two distinct halves. The first half encompasses the years 1900-1970 while the second half includes 1970 to the present day. The first half of the century is characterized by a steady upward slope that is characterized by short increases and decreases in the divorce rate. In the second half of the century there is a much steeper positive slope that occurs over a short time, hits its peak and then plunges downward with a steady negative slope, depicting a decrease in divorce rates. In order to examine the divorce rate patterns over the past century we need to start from the …show more content…
During the roaring twenties, the divorce rate saw its first sharp increase. This is most likely due to unprecedented freedoms women experienced during these fabulous ten years. Such freedoms include the inclusion of the 19th Amendment into the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Another characteristic of the 20s include millions of women working in white-collar jobs and participating in the bumping consumer economy. In addition to these things, new technologies and machines such as the vacuum cleaner eliminated the time women spent cleaning and taking care of the house. On top of all these things, the roaring twenties encouraged women to be more sexually free. Divorce was most likely a more acceptable option to women during the 20s and or women were marrying later due to being a part of the work force. After the roaring twenties, the divorce rate remained stagnant, neither increasing nor decreasing. This is most likely due to the economic effects of the Great Depression. Due to extreme economic turmoil, many couples stayed together because they could not afford the cost of divorce. When the unemployment rate decreased the divorce rate continued to
A divorce rate is defined as, “the number of divorces occurring among the population of a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population of the given geographical area during the same year.” The divorce rate over the past century is split up into two distinct halves. The first half encompasses the years 1900-1970 while the second half includes 1970 to the present day. The first half of the century is characterized by a steady upward slope that is characterized by short increases and decreases in the divorce rate. In the second half of the century there is a much steeper positive slope that occurs over a short time, hits its peak and then plunges downward with a steady negative slope, depicting a decrease in divorce rates. In order to examine the divorce rate patterns over the past century we need to start from the …show more content…
During the roaring twenties, the divorce rate saw its first sharp increase. This is most likely due to unprecedented freedoms women experienced during these fabulous ten years. Such freedoms include the inclusion of the 19th Amendment into the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Another characteristic of the 20s include millions of women working in white-collar jobs and participating in the bumping consumer economy. In addition to these things, new technologies and machines such as the vacuum cleaner eliminated the time women spent cleaning and taking care of the house. On top of all these things, the roaring twenties encouraged women to be more sexually free. Divorce was most likely a more acceptable option to women during the 20s and or women were marrying later due to being a part of the work force. After the roaring twenties, the divorce rate remained stagnant, neither increasing nor decreasing. This is most likely due to the economic effects of the Great Depression. Due to extreme economic turmoil, many couples stayed together because they could not afford the cost of divorce. When the unemployment rate decreased the divorce rate continued to