The number of marriages in the United States alone is approximately 2,077,000.  The typical marriage rate is 6.8 per 1,000 total population.  The divorce rate is 3.4 per 1,000 total population.  So by these statistics, half of the marriages in the United States end in divorce.  It seems there needs to be a better understanding of the reasons behind this.  Marriages are treated as if disposable in the United States.  Is it the lack of religious values that stress the sacredness of marriage?  Or is it the lack of value for committment?

According to some sociologists, couples with children have a slightly lower rate of divorce compared to couples without children.  This could be because children make the bond of marriage grow stronger.  Or it could just be the fact that the couple wants to stay together just for the sake of the children even if there are issues in the marriage.  Couples without children can become weary of one another since all their time is spent focused on each other.  When a couple has children, less time is spent on each other individually and more time is spent as a family unit.  The attention is diversified among different members of the family.  This makes the couple value and appreciate the time they do get alone together.

In America freedom is one of the most important beliefs.  The freedom to choose according to their own personal desires is stronger than the any religious or moral beliefs.  If one sees the marriage has grown stale and doesn't provide happiness, they opt for divorce.  This should not apply to marrriages that are considered unhealthy, such as an abusive relationship.  For the safety of the individual and any children involved, a divorce should be attained if there is abuse.

The United States has the highest divorce rate compared to other countries.  This seems to be related to the country's legal and religious standards.  In a few other countries, women do not have as many rights as American women.  Even if a woman with less legal rights wants a divorce, she could not go through with it.  This is out of fear of some type of punishment.  Another factor is that other countries seem to put more emphasis on their religious values and take them more seriously.  If their religion declares divorce to be immoral they are less likely to seek divorce out of fear of some type of spiritual punishment.  Since marriage tends to be taken more seriously in other countries, they do not make rash or hasty decisions when it comes to initially getting married.  In several countries, marriages are still being betrothed by parents.  Because this marriage is arranged between two sets of families, couples are less likely to divorce because it would cause disapproval or abandonment from their families.

There are still some marriages in the United States that do last.  Also, there are quite a number of people who do still take active part in their choice of religion and value system.  But just according to statistics, there is a greater chance of divorce in America compared to the rest of the world.

Here are some sites with useful information on marriages and divorce rates.

http://www.cdc.gov

http://www.marriage101.org

http://www.nitawriter.wordpress.com