The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world. Why is this? Why do people divorce so much? Social scientists have come up with six general reasons as to why, though this is not an exhaustive list and not everybody definitively divorces for these six reasons.
EXAMPLE
You see your neighbor’s situation and say to yourself, “Jerry got a divorce and now he's happy. Why can't I?” Society answers that you can. Divorce becomes more culturally accepted in this way, and divorce begets more divorce.Often when people divorces, they remarry. Statistics show that three out of four people who divorce will remarry, and often within a short period of time, about four years. If children are involved in this process, it can often result in what is called a blended family, or a family composed of biological relationships and step relationships.
EXAMPLE
If your mother marries a new man after your parents get divorced, you might now have a blended family composed of your mom (biological relationship), your stepfather (step relationship), and any siblings you might have, both biological and new step siblings. It’s an amalgamation of step and biological relationships.Cohabitation is another phenomenon which occurs when two non-married adults live together as part of a romantic relationship. For instance, two people who share a house or apartment together for various reasons as a result of their romantic union are cohabitating. They're not married, they're just choosing to cohabitate, or live together.
Source: This work is adapted from Sophia author Zach Lamb.