The amount of studies done on children and divorce have reached cliché levels in today’s society. But, just because they reached astronomical proportions the severity of the situation isn’t decreased. General statistics can be taken many different ways and eschewed to benefit whoever is promoting the particular statistic s at that time. While emotional and psychological studies can show just how serious the repercussions can be for kids of divorced families.
The fact is kids experience a lot these days. The dynamic of family life has drastically changed since just a generation ago. Only time will tell what the long term effects will be on this generation as they progress through adulthood. Still some facts jump out at us and make us realize how complex and convoluted family life, marriage, and divorce has become.
Studies and Head Turning Facts
Half of the American children will experience the divorce of their parents. And of these children, half of them will also experience the break-up of a parent’s second marriage. (Furstenberg, Peterson, Nord, and Zill, Life Course).
This study shows the rise in prominence and acceptance of divorce in modern society. Once shunned and stigmatized all together, it is not uncommon to see spouses on their third or fourth marriage. While this social freedom has become more widely accept today, the effects on the traditional family and the children within these broken homes is subject to many negative connotations. The scope of the negative influences have not been fully studied yet to yield the long term effects.
Forty percent of children growing up in America today are being raised without their fathers. (Wade, Horn and Busy, Fathers, Marriage and Welfare Reform Hudson Institute Executive Briefing,)
This study and glaring statistic shows just how obvious the broken home has become. Regardless if a family is missing a paternal or maternal figure, the glaring lack of balance that each gendered parent brings to the nuclear family creates a situation where kids can grow up without the proper influence and discipline in their lives. This may lead to many problems as they approach adulthood. This study shows just how serious the repercussions can be in a family lacking the traditional authority figure of the father.
Health Effects Studies in Divorce
Children living with both biological parents are 20 to 35 percent more physically healthy than children from broken homes. (Dawson, Family Structure and Children’s Health and Well-being Journal of Marriage and the Family)
New studies about the effects of divorce on children have gone beyond just the psychological damage these situations can cause, and have ventured to study what physical effects can manifest in children of divorce, both in short term and long term. The study of how stress affects the body is not that new of a notion, but recently studies have been done to what effect the stress of a divorce can have on children, and how these effects and stress can cause both long and short term health problems. The general consensus is that more research needs to be done, but clearly there is a correlation between divorce and the stress that can cause health problems later in life.
New studies come out every year concerning divorce, especially looking at the effects in children. Parents can sometimes lose site of the effects a divorce can have on their children. Common situations have been seen where parents use their children as pawns or objects against their spouse. The lasting effects of these situations can be damaging beyond our current understanding. Filing for divorce will happen. It is natural for all couples not to end up completely happy. Parents need to understand the effects their actions will have on their children, and in the very least worked together with their spouse for the good of their offspring.