How common is divorce and what are the reasons?

In the United States, researchers estimate that 40%–50% of all first marriages, and 60% of second marriages, will end in divorce. There are some well known factors that put people at higher risk for divorce: marrying at a very early age, less education and income, living together before marriage, a premarital pregnancy, no religious affiliation, coming from a divorced family, and feelings of insecurity. The most common reasons people give for their divorce are lack of commitment, too much arguing, infidelity, marrying too young, unrealistic expectations, lack of equality in the relationship, lack of preparation for marriage, and abuse. Some of these problems can be fixed and divorce prevented. Commitment is having a long-term view of the marriage that helps us not get overwhelmed by the problems and challenges day to day. When there is high commitment in a relationship, we feel safer and are willing to give more for the relationship to succeed. Commitment is clearly a factor in why some couples stay together and others divorce. Divorce is necessary at times, and it may even help to preserve the moral boundaries of marriage. But parents have a responsibility to do all that they reasonably can to preserve and repair a marriage, especially when the reasons for divorce are not the most serious ones. Barriers to leaving a marriage, such as financial worries, can keep marriages together in the short run. However, unless there is improvement in the relationship, eventually the barriers are usually not enough to keep a marriage together in the long run.

Source:

- Suzanne M. Bianchi et al., “Housework: Who Did, Does, or Will Do It, and How Much Does It Matter?” Social Forces 91 (2012): 55–63, doi: 10.1093/sf/sos120.

- Abbie E. Goldberg. “‘Doing’ and ‘Undoing’ Gender: The Meaning and Division of Housework in SameSex Couples,” Journal of Family Theory & Review 5 (2013): 85–104, doi: 10.1111/jftr.12009.

- Human Rights Campaign, “Judge Overturns Order to Disclose Documents Detailing Publication of Regnerus’ Junk Science,” news release, April 17, 2014, http://www.hrc.org/press-releases/entry/ judge-overturns-order-to-disclose-documents-detailing-publication-of-regner. 

Marriage and Family: LGBT Individuals and Same-Sex Couples

Though estimates vary, as many as 2 million to 3.7 million U.S. children under age 18 may have a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender parent, and about 200,000 are being raised by same-sex couples. Much of the past decade’s legal and political debate over allowing same-sex couples to marry has centered on these couples’ suitability as parents, and social scientists have been asked to weigh in. After carefully reviewing the evidence presented by scholars on both sides of the issue, Gary Gates concludes that same-sex couples are as good at parenting as their different-sex counterparts. Any differences in the wellbeing of children raised in same-sex and different-sex families can be explained not by their parents’ gender composition but by the fact that children being by raised by same-sex couples have, on average, experienced more family instability, because most children being raised by same-sex couples were born to different-sex parents, one of whom is now in the same-sex relationship. That pattern is changing, however. Despite growing support for same-sex parenting, proportionally fewer same-sex couples report raising children today than in 2000. Why? Reduced social stigma means that more LGBT people are coming out earlier in life. They’re less likely than their LGBT counterparts from the past to have different-sex relationships and the children such relationships produce. At the same time, more same-sex couples are adopting children or using reproductive technologies like artificial insemination and surrogacy. Compared to a decade ago, same-sex couples today may be less likely to have children, but those who do are more likely to have children who were born with same-sex parents who are in stable relationships. In the past, most same-sex couples raising children were in a cohabiting relationship. With same-sex couples’ right to marry now secured throughout the country, the situation is changing rapidly. As more and more same-sex couples marry, Gates writes, we have the opportunity to consider new research questions that can contribute to our understanding of how marriage and parental relationships affect child wellbeing.

Source:

- Justin McCarthy, “Record-High 60% of Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage,” Gallup, May 20, 2015, http://www.gallup.com/poll/183272/record-high-americans-support-sex-marriage. aspx?utm_source=Social%20Issues&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=tiles.

- Art Swift, “Most Americans Say Same-Sex Couples Entitled to Adopt,” Gallup, accessed May 20, 2015, http://www.gallup.com/poll/170801/americans-say-sex-couples-entitled-adopt.aspx.

- Freedom to Marry, “History and Timeline of the Freedom to Marry in the United States,” accessed October 10, 2014, http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/history-and-timeline-of-marriage.

- Ilan H. Meyer, “Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence,” Psychological Bulletin 129 (2003): 674–97, doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674.

What is the most recent estimate of same-sex couple households?

The most recent estimate, from 2011 ACS data, shows 605,472 same-sex couple households. Of these, 168,092 reported being married couples. The figure below shows estimates of same-sex couples by relationship type (unmarried partner or spouse) and sex of the couple.

 Author: U.S. Census Bureau (2011)

Two basic kinds of change occurred between 2007 and 2008: (1) processing and editing changes and (2) formatting changes to the questionnaire. The first reflects technological improvements in data collection by interviewers and efforts to make the processing and editing more consistent between data in the ACS and the 2010 Census. The second changes the layout of the gender question to make it more difficult to accidently mark both male and female. The drop in the reported number of same-sex couples between 2007 and 2008 can be attributed to these changes, which have resulted in a more reliable estimate of same-sex couple households.

                                               

Author: U.S. Census Bureau (2011)

Source:

- Census Bureau (2013). Frequently Asked Questions About Same-Sex Couple Households. Fertility and Family Statistics Branch. https://www.census.gov/hhes/samesex/files/SScplfactsheet_final.pdf

Perfect Couple: Families

This bulletin presents annual statistics on the number of families by type, people in families by type and children in families by type. A family is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child who live at the same address. Children may be dependent or non-dependent. Types of family include married couple families, cohabiting couple families and lone parent families. The bulletin also presents statistics for 1996 to 2014 on the number of households by type, household size and people living alone. A household is one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room or dining area. A household can consist of more than one family, or no families in the case of a group of unrelated people.

The Marriages (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 made provision for the marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales from 29th March 2014 onwards. No married same sex couples were selected in the interview sample in the April to June 2014 quarter of the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Therefore statistics on same sex married couples, their families and their households will not be reported on within this bulletin. Early analysis of the July to September 2014 quarter shows that some married same sex couples were interviewed on the LFS.

Author:  Labour Force Survey - Office for National Statistics

Figure 1 shows that the most common family type in the UK in 2014 was a married or civil partner couple family without dependent children. There were 7.8 million such families in 2014. The next most common family type was a married or civil partner couple family with dependent children, of which there were 4.8 million in 2014. All family types have increased in number since 2004 but the fastest growing family type in the UK over the decade 2004 to 2014 was the cohabiting couple family (including both with and without dependent children). The number of cohabiting couple families grew by 29.7% between 2004 and 2014. This compares to a growth of 11.9% for lone parent families and 2.2% growth for married couple families. Despite an increase in all three types of family over the last decade, married couple families are still the most common family type in the UK, both with and without dependent children.

Source:

- National Statistics (2015). Families and Households, 2014. Statistical Bulletin. UK. http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_393133.pdf

Valentine’s Day Fact Sheet on Sexual Health

What do you plan to give your valentine this February 14th – a bouquet of flowers, a heartshaped box of chocolates, a candlelit dinner? Have you considered the gift that keeps on giving -- a sexually transmitted infection? Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that result from the transmission of certain bacteria or viruses during physically intimate acts. An STI may or may not result in a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that has noticeable symptoms. It may seem unromantic to raise the issue of STIs on a day that celebrates love and romance. But let’s be realistic: love and romance tend to lead to sex in U.S. society today. And STIs have reached epidemic proportions in America, with 19 million new cases occurring each year. So what are the odds of becoming infected? A 2000 report estimated that a third of Americans had contracted a STI by age 24. This is why a holiday focused on love, romance, and seduction should also be a time to focus on sexual health. Researchers have discovered much useful information about STIs, but many people continue to avoid learning about these socially taboo infections.

-Virgins do not have to worry about STIs. 

- Only certain types of people get STIs. 

- People know if they are infected.

- Regular annual medical exams and HIV testing eliminates the need to worry about STIs.

- Condoms eliminate the need to worry about STIs.

- Having the ‘STI talk’ is unromantic. 

Source: 

*Bersamin, M. et al. (2007). Defining Virginity and Abstinence: Adolescents’ Interpretations of Sexual Behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 41(2): 182-188.

*Nack, A (2002). Bad Girls and Fallen Women: Chronic STD Diagnoses as Gateways to Tribal Stigma. Symbolic Interaction, 25 (4): 463-485. http://www.ashastd.org/news/news_pressreleases_CDCsurveillancereport.cfm.

*St Lawrence JS et al. (2002). STD screening, testing, case reporting, and clinical and partner notification practices: a national survey of US physicians. American Journal of Public Health, 92: 1784-1788.  

Association between parasuicide and Saint Valentine's Day

Experience in a casualty department suggested to us that an unusually high number of patients who had taken an overdose of drugs presented on Saint Valentine's Day (14 February). Previous studies have shown an association between parasuicide (non-fatal deliberate self harm) and stressful events such as an unsuccessful relationship, unemployment, and physical illness.' The festival of Saint Valentine's Day may induce stress due to unrequited love, but to our knowledge the incidence of parasuicide on this day has not been determined. We therefore investigated the association between Saint Valentine's Day and parasuicide.

Author: Davenport, S. &, Birtle, J. (1990)

The 95% confidence intervals for the numbers of cases indicated an association with Saint Valentine's Day and, to a lesser extent, with Christmas Day. Significant differences in age were found among the patients according to the day of presentation: those who presented on Saint Valentine's Day and Christmas Day (median age 21 and 22 respectively) were younger than those who presented on the control days (7 February, age 28; 15 August, age 31) (p<OOl, Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric analysis of variance). The proportion of patients who were adolescent (defined as those aged 12-202) was higher on Saint Valentine's Day (45%) and Christmas Day (36%) than on the control days (7 February, 17%; 15 August, 11%). The 95% confidence intervals for the numbers of adolescent patients again indicated an association with Saint Valentine's Day and, to a lesser extent,

Christmas Day 

Source:

*Howton K ()( rridv J. shborn M, (olc 1). Adolcnccjits who takc ocrrdoscs: thcir characterixticx, problets and contact wi il hepiiig c agciices. Br 7 PIsvclatrv 1982;140 11X-23 

*BIlncrotlt J, Marsack 1'. Ihe relptitivcnes ol sclt posoninilig and scl njur Br JPschltair 1977;131:394-9.