The Effects of Divorce on Children

Introduction

In America, about one in every two marriages will end in divorce. Around 60% of those divorcing couples have children. (Cherlin, 2012). Half of the marriages in America end in divorce, and more than half of those couples have children, which means that about every other divorce that is filed in America, a child is impacted. Between 850,000 and 950,000 divorces occur each year. (National Center for Health Statistics, CDC., 2014). Given that roughly 60% of those divorcing couples have at least one child, at least 510,000 children are affected a year. Estimates have been done to suggest that in the near future, 70% of divorces could involve children under the age of eighteen. (Block, Block, and Gjerde, 1986). Because of the large number of children in America having broken families, it is important to understand the effects of divorce on children’s' day to day lives so that they may be provided for in a proper and beneficial way.

Changes in the Family

There are many different outcomes that the effect of a divorce may have on a child. Though divorce isn't always a positive thing, sometimes there are scenarios where a family is better off this way. According to research, the bond maintained between parent and child is the main change that plays a factor on the child's outcome when a divorce happens. The relationships between parents and their children were found to be more influential than the parents’ marital status. Negative effects were null if relationships remained intact after the divorce. However, sometimes the ability to keep these relationships closely knit just isn't as simple as it was before the divorce. Keeping a relationship intact is especially difficult for the non-custodial parent. (He...

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