The frequency of divorce has much increased since the Great War, but it was steadily if more slowly increasing long before, though in France the incident of divorce increased up to 1921 and since then has somewhat decreased.  The post-war so-called “epidemic of marriage” was naturally followed by an “epidemic of divorce,” which is now subsiding, although we may still expect the rate to rise slowly as the impediments are removed. In Japan, it may be remarked, which comes next to the United States in frequency of divorce, there was no post-war rise. The United States holds the record; in 1923 there were 360 divorces to 100,000 of married population (or 149 to 100,000 of the whole population). And in some States, this means one or more divorces to every five marries, though, according to the later American results of Grove and Ogburn, there is one divorce to every seven marriages, actors and musicians constituting the most divorcing professional class. In Europe, Austria, and Switzerland stand high, and England very low with only 6.8 divorces to 100,000 of population.  In Russia divorce may be obtained at the wish of either party (and at the wish of both it may be arranged before the Registrar, without recourse to the Courts), yet divorce is far less frequent than in the United States, and the younger generation cultivate the ideals of self-discipline and self-control. Such differences represent differences of social opinion and of religion, as well as discrepant facilities for obtaining divorce. The general advance of divorce corresponds to the normal condition of advanced civilization and represents a necessary and healthy adjustment to the complex social conditions.  Divorce by mutual consent (and even on demand of either party) is the goal towards which we are moving, and it has already been reached in some countries.

It is reasonable that a contract formed by mutual consent should be dissolvable by mutual consent, and so far from divorce being destructive to the family, we may agree that it is a necessary means of preserving the dignity of marriage by ending such marriages as have ceased to be worthy of the name. Still, it causes great hardship on the family. Often when couple divorce, it rips their hearts to shreds and scrambles their brains, making them unable to respond to life properly or sometimes they are so damaged that they cannot even work. Divorce may also poison a parent’s relationship with their children to the point children are indifferent to one or both of the parents and in some cases, they may not like one or both of the parents. Then another person caused the parent divorce, or the parent starts dating right after a divorce, the child(ren) may strongly dislike the object of their parents’ affection and may be embarrassed to be seen in public or be associated with the person their parent is dating.   The tendency to diminish the rigidity of marriage ties is being carried further, it may be added, than an increased legal facility for divorce can carry it. Many couples marry because they plan to spend their lives together, they work, build bank accounts, homes, and retirement accounts, and when the couple divorces, these assets have to split up and often times one or both parties may not be able to sustain their lifestyle and could end up going broke and losing their homes after paying for a divorce. 

Also, their retirement accounts may get drained, and they have to start all over. There is also the issue of child support, parents still are responsible for supporting them kids and may have to pay for them until they turn eighteen and that sometimes can include the cost of a college education, which something cost $100,000.00. There is undouble a tendency in our Western civilization to recognize the existence of sexual relationships outside of marriage altogether, always provided that such relationships are not for the procreation of children. It may be aid that such extra-marital manifestations of the sexual life are no novelty. Prostitution has flourished in secret and even been defended in public, while what is called seduction has everywhere been taking place. However, the novelty often lies in the fact that both prostitution and seduction are diminishing. Prostitution is becoming less attractive and seduction less possible. The palmy days of prostitution (which seems to have begun as a religious rite) were before syphilis entered civilization, and its prestige has been gradually falling ever since.  Seduction in the legitimate sense of the word (as seduced is often merely the expression used by women of low social class to describe their first act of sexual intercourse) is only possible when the woman is unduly ignorant of the nature of sexual relations, and the state of affairs is coming to an end. However, when prostitution and seduction are, so far as possible, eliminated, the objections to the formation of sexual relationships—in the absence of higher ethical or religious considerations and provided offspring are not contemplated—largely fall away. There can be no doubt that this new condition is becoming appreciated by younger generations.  

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