Divorce is a word that can trigger many emotions both
personally and intellectually. Divorce
has probably affected every person and every family directly and
indirectly. There are numerous studies
and statistics about divorce, but some aren’t that reliable, while others are
fairly accurate. There are multiple
studies that have found that marriage couples that were dissatisfied or unhappy
in marriage, were assessed 5 years later and found that 70% became very satisfied
or happy in marry. Two years after the
divorce, one or both partners said that “they could have or should have saved
the marriage”.
Seventy percent of men are remarried within 2 years of a
divorce, women are much less likely to marry after divorce. A contributing factor might be women whom
have children may be the primary caregivers and it is more difficult for men to
commit to an entire new family. Women
may become more selective when seeking a marriage partner the second time
around. 72% of marriages remain married
to their first partner until death. The
most common divorce rate that is quoted is that 50% of marriages end in
divorce, but typically this include those that have been divorced multiple
times. This is what contributes to this
statistic, 2nd and 3rd marriages result in divorce more
often, which increases the percentage of marriages that end in divorce.
How does this affect the father’s relationship with his
children after a divorce? Typically,
mother’s move to a new location to find increased support for herself and
family. The mother sometimes needs to
move to find new work to support the family.
Fathers sometimes need to move to find a better job to support his
family with increased costs including child support. The absence of the father in his children’s
lives has an enormous effect on the outcome of the children. Sometimes we don’t fully realize how much
divorce will affect the entire family. We
do know that everyone is hurt by a divorce.
Dallin H. Oaks gave some beautiful counsel about
divorce. He said, “Divorce is not an
all-purpose solution, and it often creates long-term heartache. A broad-based international study of the
levels of happiness before and after “major life events” found that, on
average, persons are far more successful in recovering their level of happiness
after the death of a spouse than after a divorce. Spouses who hope that divorce will resolve
conflicts often find that it aggravates them, since the complexities that
follow divorce—especially where there are children—generate new conflicts. Think
first of the children. Because divorce separates the interests of children from
the interests of their parents, children are its first victims. Scholars of
family life tell us that the most important cause of the current decline in the
well-being of children is the current weakening of marriage, because family
instability decreases parental investment in children. We know that children raised
in a single-parent home after divorce have a much higher risk for drug and
alcohol abuse, sexual promiscuity, poor school performance, and various kinds
of victimization.”
A divorce doesn’t only affect the couple and the children,
it affects the extended family. For
example, the grandparents, step children, in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles
whom are expected to sever or abolish those relationships. Some children will never have contact with
some of their most cherished and influential people that they love, because of
divorce. Divorce affects the entire
family both immediate and extended.
What follows divorce?
After some time determined by each individual, dating begins. This may introduce opportunities for re-marriage. Many times, this includes acquiring step-children,
half-children and the blending of families.
This requires a great deal of patience and working together as a newly
organized marriage and family. In most
cases, mothers are very protective of their children especially when the new
father figure tries to discipline a child.
If one parent is stricter than the other, the other parent often
compensates for that. This can be
frustrating for both parents in the new marriage, or in any marriage. The other spouse can feel they are being
undermined and their feelings are not valid in the home, in the marriage, and with
the new children. This take a tremendous
amount of communication and trying to not undermine the spouse’s opinion. This might mean you need to have more
closed-door conversations to address these new issues. Each spouse needs to value the other and help
each other with their new roles and challenges with marriage and parenting with
love and respect.
Divorce in some cases are appropriate and it is only for the
individuals involved to decide what is best for them and their families. We should not judge one another by the
choices made, in every case we need to show and increase love to those who
struggle in any way.