Raising children in a home where conflict and fighting is the norm is very detrimental. Although the research shows divorce as the option most Americans choose, there IS another way. What is better for kids growing up is for the parents to figure out how to stop fighting. How they work out their differences is certainly most challenging, and a Marriage & Family Therapist is trained to help couples through these tough times.
Here’s a 2010 CBS News poll on divorce and family attitudes you may find shocking:
63% Know Spouse Who Cheated
- Nearly two-thirds of all Americans know someone who has been unfaithful to their spouse, according to a new CBS News poll. Overall, 63 percent say they know someone who has, while 31 percent say they do not.
- Demographically, Americans with higher incomes and education levels are more likely to know someone who has cheated on their spouse than Americans with lower incomes and less education. In addition, those who live in the West and South are more likely to know someone who has cheated than those from the Northeast and Midwest.
- Americans who are divorced or separated are also more likely to know someone
who has cheated on their spouse than Americans overall. In addition, the poll found that most married Americans are satisfied with their marriage, at least when they compare it to their parents’ marriage. Specifically, 55 percent think their marriage is better than that of their parents, while another 41 percent thinks it is the same. Just 3 percent think their marriage is worse than their parents.
Americans Favor Divorce Over Staying Together
- Overall, Americans favor divorce over staying together if a marriage isn’t working out, though by a lesser margin than they did 15 years ago. Forty-six percent favor divorce in such circumstances while 38 percent oppose – in 1995 a majority of 51 percent favored divorce.
- Catholics and evangelical Christians tend to oppose divorce even if the marriage isn’t
working out. - Americans who are currently married are divided on the subject, while a majority of those who are separated or divorced favor divorce under such circumstances. And when it comes to what’s better for kids growing up, Americans stand behind divorce as a better option than parents staying together and fighting all the time. Seven in 10 say it is better for kids to grow up with divorced parents in this case, as do six in 10 married parents.
Getting a Divorce is Too Easy
- Nevertheless, a majority of Americans (53 percent) thinks getting a divorce is too easy and should be made more difficult to obtain than it is now, while one in four Americans thinks getting a divorce should be made easier. These numbers are similar to those found in polls conducted by the University of Chicago over the past 20 years.
Keep in mind also that parents are their children’s best role models and if parents don’t model how to work out their problems, their children will likely follow in their footsteps.
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