This week in class we learned a lot about social trends and how it is effecting the family. We went over many different statistics which I found to be quite interesting. I am excited to share some of these things with you in hope that you will be able to benefit from them, or at least learn something new.
Something that I found interesting is the myth of divorce in America. I am sure that you have heard, and possibly believe in, the statistic that fifty percent of all marriages in the U.S.A. end in divorce. I was a believer in this statistic for a very long time. But many studies have been performed on account of this statistic. It turns out that this myth stemmed from California's law, signed by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1970 to make "no fault divorce" legal. That example was followed by similar laws in many states through the 1970's and early '80's. After this law was passed, divorce rates skyrocketed! There were so many divorces happening that is caused family scientists to run many studies which caused them to believe that if the divorce rate continued on long enough at the same rate it was on, then fifty percent of the U.S.A's marriages would have ended in divorce. But, as studies show, the divorce rate leveled off in the 80's and has actually decreased from there. Now, in the U.S.A, about twenty-four percent of marriages end in divorce. That is a significantly different number than fifty percent.
As we continued on learning about divorce, we started discussing why it happens. There are obvious reasons such as abuse (physical and/or emotional), or infidelity, but what else is there? Well, let me share something interesting with you. It is quite common to look for levels of compatibility with those you date and seek to marry, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it isn't everything it turns out. The average couple that is on their way to divorce has an average of 10 areas of significant incompatibility, such as parenting style, media choices, religion, etc. But, the average couple that is happily married has an average of 10 areas of significant incompatibility as well. That’s right, divorce is very rarely caused based solely on incompatibility! Crazy right!? Sometimes I feel like everyone is trying so hard to find someone who is perfectly compatible with them. They want all the same hobbies, all the same interest in movies or video games. They just don't want to have to step out of their comfort zone. They want their life to be the exact same, just with a spouse in the picture. But in all reality, no one is perfectly compatible! When people blame their relationship issues on incompatibility it is bogus! In reality they are just too lazy to step outside of their comfort zone and try to see the world from their significant others's point of view. Of course there are still exceptions to this, but I feel strongly that many problems that lead to divorce can be solved just by simply sitting down and talking with each other.
On a bit of a different note, something else I found interesting this week was learning about the supposed overpopulation of the earth. A man by the name of Paul R. Ehrlich wrote a book called “Population Bomb”in 1968, which predicted that by 1980 millions of people will starve and the world will be destroyed and out of resources. As we can see now, his prediction did not exactly come to fruition. In fact, in present time, there are fewer people who are suffering from lack of food and water then ever before. You might ask yourself "How did he come up with this crazy theory?" Well, Ehrlich did his study during the "Baby Boom." There was a spike in births in the U.S.A. Now days the average amount of children a woman has in the U.S.A. is about 2.05 children. So if that is what we are at today, what would you guess the birth rate was then? What would cause him to make such a prediction? Do you think it would be 10 children? Maybe 7? Maybe even 4? Nope! none of the above! During the “Baby Boom” the average amount of children a woman had in the U.S.A. was 3.7. Crazy right!? I personally always thought it was closer to like 7, but it was only 3.7. So the U.S.A. definitely wasn't, and still isn't in any danger of overpopulation, but what about the rest of the world? Well, if you gave every family in the world one acre of land, they would all fit in the state of Texas! Isn't that mind blowing!? The world is far from being overpopulated, and we have access to more resources than ever before. We just need to continue to do our best to use them wisely and take care of our earth, and we will have nothing to worry about.
Thanks for reading! I hope I was able to help you learn something new and interesting today! I hope you will come back and read what else I learn next week!
