The Big Biz of Divorce

According to the Center for Marriage and Families the American taxpayer spends $112 billion dollars each year for divorce.

Did you choke on your morning coffee as I did when I came across that figure? It was brought to me courtesy of John Logan, Chairman and CEO of Wedlock Divorce Insurance. We've tossed a few emails back and forth as I try to figure out a way to stop the avalanche of divorce in this country. To better understand not only my own experience with divorce but that of millions of others.

Thing is, I don't know if there is any way to stop this beast that is winning one out of every two marriages. An oft-repeated percentage that has had its own share of bumps along the way as some try to argue that the figure is too high.

Yet, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with stats from as early as October of this year, out of a marriage rate of 6.8 per 1,000 total population, 3.4 per 1,000 population divorced. That's half, just out of the 44 reporting states, including D.C.

Which leaves the United States the top country for divorce.

Not exactly a title we want to carry now, is it?

But for all the statistics thrown about concerning the one out of every two and the greater the percentage grows for each consecutive remarriage there are no facts about why.

Why does marriage continue to fail at such a staggering rate?

Sure, we get the numbers for everything from infidelity, finances, abuse, grew apart, fell out of love, but why, the real knuckle-dragging, cornered in a dark alley, put to the lie detector test reasons as to why half of all marriages in this country will end with a once loving couple seated before a judge with their divorce attorney(s).

Why?

When couples have so much to lose in terms of divorce; financially, emotionally, spiritually, not to mention the damage that is done to children during divorce, why will they risk everything to end a marriage?

And what are the answers to stop the growth of divorce? In a country where we are far more likely to be reactive to a situation than proactive, what can we do to proactively put a stop to half of all marriages ending in divorce?

Is it mandatory pre-marital education? Instead of couples simply applying for a marriage license should they be required to partake in lengthy classes that will cover everything from how they will deal with finances, to how many children to have, and how to communicate effectively so that arguments do not spiral down to eventual battles over who pays alimony, who has custody of the children, even who gets to take Fido?

Perhaps mandatory divorce insurance, as offered by John Logan and his company, Wedlock, is key to assuring the public at large is not left with a billion dollar bill each year as married couples become another divorce statistic.

Whatever the answer may be, where ever it may be hidden, it is imperative that we continue to look, as the economy continues to flounder, as many couples continue to hang on to their marriage vows, sometimes seemingly by a thread, they, our children and future married couples deserve to have every bit of information possible as to what they can do to not become a divorce statistic.

At the very least, our children deserve that much.

The mother of two munchkins, Bethany J. Royer is an independent contractor and writer currently studying psychology with Florida Institute of Technology. She is actively seeking a publisher for her first completed novel while working on a memoir about her personal trials and tribulations with divorce. She blogs prolifically at motherofthemunchkins.blogspot.com and can be reached at themotherofthemunchkins@yahoo.com.