Psychological Impacts of Divorce
There is little doubt that the incidence of divorce is having a profound effect on this country. The USA has the highest divorce rate in the world, according to the Oregon Mediation Center. By the age of 18 half of all American children will come from a divorced home. There is gathering data in social science journals demonstrating the devastating physical, emotional and financial effects that divorce is having. For these children the effect will last well into adulthood even as late as their 20s and 30s. However, this is not only about children. Men and women are are changing with the times, and the statistics are a little disturbing, a report from The Heritage Foundation portrays.
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Financial Impact of Divorce
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Terms like child custody, property division and child support are all in everyday usage. The splitting of child custody is causing a lot of depression and angry sentiment in men and women. From days missed from work, the costs of daily child care and personal finances in general are burgeoning problems for society in this country. Almost 50 percent of people with children going through divorce wind up living at or below the poverty line, Heritage reports. All forms of social welfare are being burdened as never before.
Men and Divorce
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Although they tend to hide or ignore their feelings, men often have a more difficult time emotionally with divorce. They often put more emphasis on saving the marriage and refuse divorce initially. They often remarry more quickly than women. The reduction in money, the loss of mutual friendships, as well as the loss of bonding and intimacy in marriage, come harder to them, the Oregon Mediation Center reports.
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Woman and Divorce
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Women are more likely to instigate divorce, the OMC says, and they are far more likely to have custody of the children, even if it was not awarded in court. Financially, more than half the women and children live on social welfare programs after divorce. In the outcome of divorce, women are much better adjusted. Perhaps this is because more often they can assume a new role in the wake of divorce.
Children and Divorce
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More often than not, children are opposed to divorce, unless there is physical violence and and abuse, in which case they just want the fighting to stop. Children below the age of reason (roughly 6 or 7 years old) still live in the fantasy world, and they want to believe that everything can be made right again and everyone will live happily ever after. If they are forced to watch a bitter custody battle, the negative affects will be worse and more long-lasting.
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