Difference between Divorce Rate U.S. and World Divorce Rate
Divorce is one of those bitter facts in the lives of humans. It’s a path in life that everyone wants to avoid at first place. However, it is also true that in the present era where life seems to be running faster than never before, divorces have been becoming more and more acceptable in many parts of the world. The steep rise in the divorce rates over the last couple of decades tells the whole story. Although there have been invariable rises in divorce rates all over the world, the trends in divorce rates are very different in some parts of human society. The following article attempts to unveil those trends in US, Asia, Europe and some other parts of the world.
Facts and Figures
The US tops the chart in terms of divorce rates as roughly about 55% of the marriages here end up in divorces. The corresponding rate in Asian countries is extremely low, especially south Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka. Though these two countries too have witnessed a steep hike in the divorce cases in the recent past, in 2010 the divorce rate in this part of the world is still as low as 1.1 – 1.5%!
In Europe, the divorce rate varies a great deal from country to country. Most parts of Europe have divorce rates much higher when compared to South Asian countries but fairly lower than those in the US and the Americas. Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, etc. have much lower divorce rates (about 5%) compared to the rest of the Europe.
Other developed parts of the world such as Australia, Japan, etc. also have higher percentages of marriages ending up in divorce. The figure in the Australia is as high as 40% whereas in Japan it is 27%.
The Possible Reasons behind such a variance:
The huge variance in the divorce rates across the globe is attributed to the differences observed in culture, lifestyle, literacy rate, poverty and religious practices.
Consider Spain and Italy for example. The culture in these countries is family centric; people tend to spend a lot of time with their families which also happen to be very large extended ‘families’ compared to the definition of a family in the rest of the world. Thus people here have developed the natural instincts for living together happily.
Another fair example to support this reasons would be India. In India arranged marriages are still prominent and family members are involved in choosing the spouse for the family member. Divorces in India are still considered to be socially unacceptable. People in countries such as India are brought up with the family values of sacrifice and contentment.
Low legal literacy level and poverty are also factors which prevent people of the developing and under developed countries from approaching court and engaging legal processes in general. On the other hand, in countries like US, Australia, Canada, most of the people are educated, financially secure and know their rights relating to freedom, so the ability to adjust and compromise does not seem to come as naturally to them.
Two Opinions
Some people ascribe the low divorce rates as positive as they value people’s virtues such as the ability to stay together, live happily and develop tolerance. On the contrary, some people condemn the tolerance part and according to them, one should seek divorce rather than live unhappily with his/her spouse. There is no point of staying together unhappily just because they deem divorce as a fundamentally wrong.
Similarities and Differences
- In countries such as US, Australia, Canada and some parts of Europe, divorce rates are very high as compared to Asian countries especially the South Asian countries such as India and Sri Lanka where the divorce rates are the lowest.
- Divorce rates vary considerably across the globe due to the difference in lifestyle, culture, poverty and literacy rates, etc.
