Why the Divorce Rate in the UK is Shooting Up

Separation of a couple created a social scandal and such individuals were considered somewhat abnormal and not measuring up to what was expected of them from the society. There was a stranglehold of collective social conscience over an individual’s will. This scenario has now changed drastically.

In the last four decades, divorce has become accepted by the society at large. Divorced people no longer carry a social stigma and find it easier to remarry. Divorce has actually turned out to be so popular that, in some countries, about half of all new marriages are today destined to end in divorce.

What is the reason for this about-turn? Why has divorce that was a strict no-no just half a century back, become all-pervasive? There are many reasons for this turn of events, some of which are given below.

Liberation of Women

The social emancipation of women has been the most influential factor in making divorce popular. Women today have identical educational and employment opportunities to men. They go to the same colleges, study the same courses and take up the same careers. As a result, they have become totally independent, both financially as well as emotionally. They can easily afford to live alone with their children and still have a decent lifestyle. Consequently, they do not today hesitate to file for divorce if they find themselves unsatisfied or unhappy in a marriage.

Relaxed Divorce Laws

Laws in democracies reflect the collective will of the people. When the society as a whole frowned upon divorces, the laws too made marital separation very difficult. The judges viewed divorce as an assault on the collective social conscience. Not any more. Divorce laws have kept pace with the changing perceptions of the people. Today, divorces are easily available. In fact, the partners can get a divorce in as little as two months if both of them so wish.

No-Fault Divorce

The introduction of the no-fault divorce has been a trigger for a massive spurt in the number of new divorce cases. Traditionally, to get a divorce a partner had to show some fault in the other, such as extra-marital affair or emotional cruelty. However, no-fault divorce does away with this provision and allows the partners to dissolve a marriage without assigning blame on each other.

Cascading Effect

It is true that divorce runs in the family. This actually means that children who come from divorced families are much more likely to file for divorce in their own marriages, compared to those whose parents stayed married for the duration of their upbringing. This is because when the kids see their parents divorce, they lose trust in human relationships and later they find it difficult to be close and intimate with their own spouses.

Extramarital Affairs

In today’s world, there are many opportunities to strike up an extramarital affair with another person. Most such affairs begin in the office where colleagues meet and work together daily. It is also easy for the lovers to clandestinely keep in touch with each other through modern technology such as mobile phones, email and Internet video chat. As the incidence of infidelity has risen in today’s world, so has the number of divorces, because rarely does a marital relationship survive the straying of a partner into an extramarital affair.

Modern, Busy Lifestyle

Today’s world is very competitive. Jobs and career advancement are given great importance. The more wealth a person is able to accumulate, the more successful he is supposed to have become. Because of this attitude and work pressures, it is easy for the partners to spend a lot of their time at office pursuing their jobs. This becomes a serious problem if both of them are working. With time, they tend to drift apart and the relationship weakens. Divorce is the logical result if the partners do not make conscious efforts to get their marriage back on track.

Rise of Individualism

A time was when people were expected to behave in their social life as the society wanted them to. Social mores were very rigid and important and no deviation was allowed from them. People who tried to beat their own path faced social disapproval and even ostracism. However, in today’s world, the balance has shifted in favour of individualism. People are now more bothered about their own needs and aspirations, and not about what the society expects of them.

This attitude of giving priority to one’s own personal wishes and tastes at the expense of others is also responsible for the increasing divorce rate. “What am I getting out of the relationship?” is the question that partners are increasingly asking themselves. If they do not get a satisfying answer, they do not hesitate to end the marriage.

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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you want to find out more about a solicitor managed divorce see www.managed-divorce.co.uk