Saturday, June 02, 2007

Divorce rate higher in Born-Again marriages

For those of us married and unmarried, statistics about marriage will always be interesting. So when I saw this study from the Manolo for the Brides site, I just had to share it with you. It's a very interesting entry but what caught my eye is this fact:

"Divorces reached a peak in the early eighties at a rate of about 40 percent (which was the highest level since the 1950s), and divorce has since entered a 20-year decline. The current rate of divorce is about 30-34% in any given year, and is lower among the college-educated (about 20%), Catholics, Muslims, and atheists. In a comparison of various religious denominations, the group that actually performs the worst are Baptists and Evangelical Christians, so I guess it makes sense that they seem to be most concerned with the idea of a divorce epidemic."

Oh my goodness. I'm an Evangelical Christian. Yikes! Come to think of it, in my former church,which was Baptist, so many people are unhappily married. In fact, in my family alone, my older brother is separated from his wife. But my Catholic relatives seem to be making their marriages work. Now I married a Catholic. And his family is like solid rock.

Then Vince said he read in The Economist that studies have shown that the wealthier the couple is, the less likely they are to get divorced. I dunno why that is but perhaps these couples have more to lose, like their reputations, social standing, and their money, so they work on their marriage harder.

So why is it that Baptists and Evangelical Christians perform the worst in marriages? Well, I noticed in my former church that the wealthier couples, like my parents' friends, are very happily married. And those who aren't doing well financially also don't do well in their marriage. So maybe it isn't about religion or lack thereof (after all the statistic says that atheists are actually in strong marriages). It must be money.

I guess we should be thankful that there is no divorce in the Philippines yet. We're such a poor country! Well, I guess that's why Filipino men are infamous adulterers then. Gee, divorce or adultery? Which is the lesser evil?

6 comments:

  1. If we were billionaires, and you and Vince fought, and W and I fought, couldn't us girls easily take off for the weekend to HK? Then after our anger died down, we'd bring them back the most amazing Sony gadgets/football gear, and then take them out to dinner after arriving from the airport. Then they'd have sorry gifts for us, too. On weeks we didn't feel like taking off after a fight, we could just sleep in the east wing instead of the west one. Money helps.

    I also feel though, that having no money makes you both feel compelled to work things out, because each other is all you have. : )

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  2. Hi Neighbor! It's taken me forever to post photos of your wedding in my blog :o Miss you and I always think about you and the girls in Ok! ;) You'll love the E! channel here... Also Food Network. Someday we'll go grocery-shopping here together :)

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  3. I am actually in the same opinion as you, come to think of it. Vince and I have moved into a much bigger home recently, right? Because, well, we've been so blessed financially recently. But you know what? Bigger house means we don't see each other anymore! We cocoon ourselves in our respective rooms. It's ridiculous. We have to seek each other out these days! Myrza told me that, and I didn't believe her. It's true!

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  4. Hi Mariel! Ya, I miss you lots, too. When I'm rich enough na (well, with V's new job, maybe it's not too far-fetched!), I'll go visit you there!!!

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  5. You hit it right in the head. Without comprehensive sex ed, there will be more teenage/unwanted pregnancies.

    Teenage pregnancies in our country usually ends in early marriages, and we all know what that entails.

    The solution to this is a complete separation of state and religion.

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  6. Yes. A lot of my friends got married quite young because they want to have sex, not because they were ready for a lifelong commitment. Or because they already had sex/got pregnant and couldn't live with the shame, married pronto. They are all now in unhappy marriages.

    I read somewhere before that a girls' school in Africa conducted an experiment. The teachers told the girls that unprotected sex leads to unwanted pregnancies, which lead to a complicated future. They did not mix in religion or the threat of hell. They just used the threat of poverty.

    At the end of the experiment, the report says, none--absolutely none--of the girls got pregnant. In fact, most of them remained virgins. I guess the fear of poverty is a more powerful motivator than the fear of God.

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