What Happened?

In the Philippines, those from the Gabriela party list authored the divorce bill, an organization empowering women and their rights so it is safe to say that the bill was authored for women’s protection against violence from abusive marriages. But clearly, there are more reasons than assault and battery that call for the divorce. Many research studies cite their own version of the top reasons for divorce so here are some them based from observations on countries that offer that choice.

A study conducted by Creighton University Center for Marriage and Family suggested that time, sex and money pose the three biggest obstacles to the satisfaction of newly married couples. It found that debt, balance of job and family and frequency of sexual relations were of greatest concern to those ages 29 and under.

Meanwhile in Korea, the divorce rate increased commonly due to infidelity, with a shocking 70% of couples divorced because of that reason, along with physical and mental abuse, and personality conflicts. Many Koreans believed that the rising rate reflects the decline of their traditional values, along with the impact of western lifestyle and pressures of modern urban life.

Infidelity is most certainly a rampant cause of divorce couples have difficulty getting over because adultery does create permanent damage to a relationship—it definitely breaks the trust of the harmed spouse and we all know trust is an important element to build a relationship. Engaging in sexual activities with someone who is not your spouse is a serious problem. It can be argued that infidelity could be the symptom of a much bigger problem in the marriage. It could lead to resentment, emotion issues, and even health concern such as sexually transmitted infections.

Another research states lack of communication as one of the causes of divorce, which leads to not discussing each other’s feelings, mutual and personal issues that eventually lead to resentment. Divorce often happens because people rarely discuss their expectations prior to the marriage, are less willing to work on their marriage afterwards and resolve to quick fixes rather than resolve issues and try harder at the relationship. How appalling is it that people have divorced because of trivial reasons like snoring!

Commitment issues could also be a cause for divorce. In today’s modern age, some engaged couples are ill prepared for the inevitable ups and downs that come with married life. Their focus is on the day of the wedding and not on the forthcoming days after the ‘big day’. Couples today do not value “for better or for worse, until death do us part” as much.

Money makes the world go round. As much as we would like to say that life is not all about money, we do feel handicapped when we lack finances to support our needs and luxuries. Being financially stable in this time of recession is definitely a challenge especially to married couples with children. And even spouses’ attitudes toward money could also lead to divorce.

Sources:

http://www.divorcereform.org/cau.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/common-causes-and-reasons-for-divorce.html

http://divorce.lovetoknow.com/Causes_of_Divorce