How do feminists explain the divorce rates going down?

Question

A few days ago new statistics came out saying that the divorce rates are down to 36%, its lowest point since 1970. The teen pregnancy rate is down by approx. 15% and so is teen drug use. So what happened to make all these wonderful things happen?? Oh yeah 18% of women left the work force to go home and raise their own children.

So stats show and increase of divorce rates, teen pregnancy, and teen drug use when women are out working and a decrease when women stay home and raise their family.

How can feminists argue that feminism has helped the American family when they stare at glaring stats like this??

Answer 1

Right on, smm.

Feminism is currently in about its third incarnation.  Modern feminists of both sexes are very pragmatic; not the militant bra-burners on the old magazine covers.  They continue to do battle with issues like: women still don't get paid equal wages for equal work, women are still discriminated against because they could get pregnant and leave a job, women are still significantly under-represented in government and corporate leadership where their opinions could most influence the way this country does things.

A modern feminist would suggest that all these "wonderful things" are a result of women being smarter and taking better care of themselves; empowered instead of bare-foot and pregnant.

Answer 2

Just where did these statistics come out?   None of the rest of us have seen them and some of us are on RSS feeds for important results.   I doubt that divorce rates went down 14 points and no one but you got that info!

This is the last report out there and it really points out that you are making up things as you go along.  

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18600304/

Answer 3

A much simpler (and therefore, by Occam's razor, more likely) explanation is that because of feminism, women are more careful about the men they marry, and thus do not marry men whom they are likely to divorce.

If the actual explanation was the 18% of women who had left the workforce, then divorce rates would only be down by 18%.

I also cannot see any mechanism by which the 18% of women who are staying home for their children who are babies now are affecting people who are teenagers now.  If anything, the drop in teenage pregnancy and drug use demonstrate that responsible teenage behavior is not dependant on stay-at-home parents.

Answer 4

We could argue until we are blue in the face (even though you not shown anything to support this and your other "arguments").  But the fact is, feminists are not against marriage or even women staying at home.  Feminism is about a woman's ability to work if she wants to, not forcing a woman to work.

Nice try though.  You got everyone all up in arms for bit.

Answer 5

I believe that! Feminist don't want to realize that their desire to work outside the home is tearing families apart across the world! I am not talking about the women who have to work for financial reasons, I am talking about the women who work to feel indpendent. Independence comes when you have

self-esteme and satisfaction at home. You cannot have a disfunctional high-stressed home/work life and feel independent. I love being a stay home mom because I am in control of my home, it is my domain. I have all the freedom I have all the freedom I want to express myself. I am not tied down by a work schedule, I can take my baby to the park anytime during the day. My child isn't being raised by another person. I gave birth to him, I should be the one who see's all his firsts, not some teacher or day care worker. My husband comes home to me after working all day and I take joy in cleaning my house and making it a home for him. I love the expression on his face when he walks through the door and sees how peaceful our house is. It is worth all the time I put into it. Not to bash working moms, but staying at home is the most fullfilling thing a woman can do. It gives us real joy that we cannot find in the work force. What do you think you will take more pride in on your death bed, your successful job? Or your grateful husband and children that you loved and took the time for? Mine will be the latter.

Answer 6

Yeah, if there are fewer marriages then there are fewer people getting divorced too.

Answer 7

Maybe it has some correlation to the ongoing marriage strike.

Answer 8

Some people refuse to get a divorce no matter how miserable they are, because they don't want to harm the kids or break up the family.   There's so much stuff about there about how divorce and having step-parents affect kids, so some parents don't want to to go through that.

Just because 2 people stay married does NOT mean that they're happy or that they're family is functioning well.

You would be shocked at how many dysfunctional families have stuck together and just learned how to deal with it, instead of resorting to divorce.

Lower divorce rates don't mean jack IMO.

Answer 9

It would be interesting to see what feminists make of these statistics.

Answer 10

Divorce rates are lower because people are working harder to sustain their marriages, or just skipping marriage altogether. Teen pregnancy is down because of improved birth control. Teen drug use is down because less teens are into drugs.

If 18% of women left the workforce to raise their children, wouldn't we have heard about it by now from someone other than you? I have no faith in that stat at all. Furthermore, you haven't demonstrated any causation between mothers at home and teen delinquency. And once again, you attack working mothers by implying that they are the cause of all evil within the family unit, and that women "should be" housewives. Your hypocrisy is appalling.

Answer 11

April babe... you cant just jump to your own conclusions and expect others to agree.

Let it be said that some families fair better when the mother stays home to raise the children, some women manage to do both and some women prefer not to have children... womens lib. has in part helped women to realize this.

Answer 12

Actually, although I am not a feminist, your use of statistics is worrisome.  For example, it is well documented that the divorce rates of atheists are only 80% of the rate of Catholics and 67% the rate of Protestants even adjusting for income and education the differences are large and significant.  Using your logic, and assuming Catholicism were the neutral case, Protestantism is damaging to marriage and atheism is strongly supportive of marriage.

Divorce, teen pregnancy, drug use and female employment are inter-related, but it is unlikely related in they way you think.  For example, women in marriages where they do not have to work have higher paid husbands.  Since money is the single largest cause for divorce, and people with lower incomes divorce more often, it would argue that it isn't feminism but inadequate males causing the divorce rate, again using dangerously simplified statistics.

It is statistically improper to draw your inference because you have not controlled for income, background, age at marriage, education, religion, and parent substance abuse.  You are arguing that the "exogenous" variable is mother's employment and the other variables are "endogenous," however that is not factually true.  Your question fails because it suffers from what a statistician would call an endogeneity problem.

My suspicion is that when other endogenous factors are controlled for, maternal employment has no impact.  This is far from my area of research, but I do research into statistical analysis, and your question is so deeply flawed that no statistical conclusion could be made from it as written.  There are two reasons I believe it likely maternal employment has no impact.  First, children are remarkably adaptive and maternal employment reduces money woes.  My suspicion as to where this breaks down is when one adult becomes suddenly unemployed.  There is a tendency for families to adapt to the combined income, a loss of 50% of a family income would and must be catastrophic.  As such, bankruptcy risk sky rockets for dual income families making things like disability and life insurance critical.

I personally think the problem is that we do not teach children how to form lasting stable relationships, we do not teach them the responsible use of money, and we so tightly limit their access to "illegal substances," that the usage happens outside the protective control of adults since they have to sneak.  Europeans that have 14 as the drinking age have much lower substance abuse problems.  I think our culture is harmful to children and then to new marriages.

Answer 13

Correlation, NOT causation.

Just because the two statistics occurred at the same time (divorce rates going down and moms staying home going up) DOESN'T mean that one caused the other.

Answer 14

There are more enlightened men now, who are secure enough in their masculinity to do the dishes or laundry.  

I worked for 45 years, we raised two lovely daughters, and we both personally grew, as times changed.

Thank God, I married an enlightened man 46 years ago!

Answer 15

It's common sense, when looking at our society through the last 50 years, that divorce rates are directly related to women in the workforce.  I read somewhere that extramarital affairs are much more common among women now, and almost ALL happen in the workplace.  Feminism has done absolutely NOTHING but harm the family and make so many of us into androgynous fools.

Answer 16

the divorce rate went down because the marriage rate went WAY down.  the teen pregnancy rate went down because the abortion rate went WAY up.  so did contraceptive use.  Did you read the whole article that you got your stats from?

Answer 17

April i commend you for posting this question more so because you are a lady but sadly the statistics are not able to tell the truth.

It is a gane of numbers in mathematics the denominator in the fraction has become very less and so the percentage has increased.(Sorry about the jargon)

Abortion has become a means of birth control.Ever thought of finding the statistics on abortions globally every year?

Great question and the emotions behind it but lost i'am afraid in this section!!!

Answer 18

Women are not getting married. They are choosing not to be a wife. I will never get married again. I cant say personally I think the feminist movement has made life any easier for me , I work and have two kids, if anything I feel it has made women have more responsibilities and men less. But hey that is life I guess...

Answer 19

There are also new laws that are preventing things like this, now you cannot elope in Nevada because you cannot get married between the hours of 12-5am. Costs of marriges are preventing weddings, and making the marrige rates low as well as the divorce rates...