Till Death Do Us Part? - Marriage in the 21st Century

In our society today, divorce is a very common thing. At an average US high school, any child asked is as likely as not to have parents that are separated or divorced. Statistics show that as of 2002, 38% of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce, not counting the divorces in California, Colorado, Indiana, and Louisiana (those states do not keep statistics of divorces). While this is lower than many people assume, and has decreased in the past 10 years, it is still a very large number.

It would seem that the institution of marriage has changed as our society has. Certainly, there are quite a few marriages that need to end in divorce, such as in the frighteningly large number of cases involving domestic abuse. But perhaps the problem is not whether a marriage should end, but whether it should ever have begun. In today's society, marriage is regarded simply as the "next step" in a relationship, often regarded as a completely reversible decision if it does not work out. The reason so few couples divorced in previous years is that when originally married they knew that divorce was simply not an option.
These days, the constant image of celebrities marrying and divorcing at such a rapid rate in the American pop culture places the public in the mindset that marriage is entirely superficial, a popular thing to do in any serious relationship. Marriage has been marred and corrupted by today's culture, and is not regarded as it was before. A goal of many people is to marry quickly. So many teens are graduating from high school and immediately getting married, and statistics have continually shown that those early marriages are more likely to end than any others.

It would appear that there is no solution to the divorce rate in today's society other than a change in the entire society. With the current state of mind, it is hard to change the attitude towards marriage and divorce. However, more education in school about marriage would likely help decrease the rate, and convince young people to think once more before tying the knot. In modern times, a non-married couple living together is socially acceptable. Perhaps if more couples lived together for a number of years before leaping into marriage, they would have the chance to experience what marriage is like before actually taking the binding vows.

If the government offered benefits to these couples similar to those granted to a married couple, there would be less incentive to "take the plunge." Another rather large thing that would assist in lowering the rate would be to have better role models for marriage. If people were to see celebrities waiting until they were certain that it was right before they married, it would set a better example for those couples that rush into marriage. Life has changed for the average person in the 21st century, and so has the institution of marriage. "Till death do us part" is no longer the binding statement it once was, and perhaps it never will be again.