Divorce rates higher in the Bible belt (Mormons, quote, marriages)
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"Southern men and women had higher rates of divorce in 2009 than their counterparts in other parts of the country: 10.2 per 1,000 for men and 11.1 per 1,000 for women, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday."
Am I the only person to notice the rates are different for men and women? Gay marriage in the biblebelt? i don't recall. The ratio of men to women is close to 50/50 in the US of A.
"Southern men and women had higher rates of divorce in 2009 than their counterparts in other parts of the country: 10.2 per 1,000 for men and 11.1 per 1,000 for women, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday."
Am I the only person to notice the rates are different for men and women? Gay marriage in the biblebelt? i don't recall. The ratio of men to women is close to 50/50 in the US of A.
More men than women who were divorced in 2009 died before being surveyed because of the dual reasons that women tend to live longer than men (and survive long enough post-divorce to get surveyed) and that the average age of men is older than that of women when getting married (thus, the men are closer to the end of their life, and less likely to survive until the survey was taken).
For these reasons, one would expect more living, surveyable women than men to have been divorced in a given year.
The south and southern people are a mess in general.
Ok, just kidding, but I have no idea other than random stereotypes that are probably inaccurate anyway. My best guess is the lack of education and people marrying younger, but marrying younger isn't just a southern thing.
"In the South, there are higher rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce for men and women," said Diana Elliott, a family demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau and co-author of the new report. "In the Northeast, you have people who are delaying first marriages, and consequently there are lower rates of marriage and lower rates of divorce."
"In the South, there are higher rates of marriage and higher rates of divorce for men and women," said Diana Elliott, a family demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau and co-author of the new report. "In the Northeast, you have people who are delaying first marriages, and consequently there are lower rates of marriage and lower rates of divorce."
And a possible reason for that being shotgun weddings because the bible beaters don't educate their kids about sex, but just chant the ignorance of the bible and preach abstinence.
And a possible reason for that being shotgun weddings because the bible beaters don't educate their kids about sex, but just chant the ignorance of the bible and preach abstinence.
While your listing possibilities, I'm showing you that the article posted refutes the OP's inferred claim.
The man probably decided that sex with his sister was better than with his wife, so get a divorce!
Looking at the brighter side, that means there are more hot divorcees available.
States like North Dakota and Utah are fairly religious, but usually come out low on these measures. Although the census apparently puts Utah well-above the Northeast's average and North Dakota somewhat above that regions average. Some factors I've heard, read, or theorized on include
Higher rates of marriage to begin with in the South: Going by the Census source Northeastern people are less likely to marry in the first place, being the least likely among regions. As this study is going by "divorced per person" rather than "divorced per married" it would make sense the Northeast would have less. You can't get divorced if you never marry. When you compare "divorce rate" to "marriage rate" South Carolina looks okay, but Maine doesn't. And of conservative/religious states outside the South the Dakotas look pretty awesome. However New Jersey and New York also come out quite well in "divorced rate to married rate" and Massachusetts looks okay. Further Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma (arguable on Southern, but is "Bible Belt"), and Tennessee don't look that good on "divorce rate to married rate."
Poverty: For affluent people divorce can be more complicated due to more resources being involved. I might have thought divorce could be too expensive for the poor, but I believe the poor generally have higher divorce rates. This could seem to work as the non-Southern, yet high poverty states, often have high divorce but their "divorce rate to marriage rate" isn't all that high. Also it seems like New Jersey or New York have a good deal of poverty.
Lack of Catholics, Lutherans, and/or Mormons Those groups tend to have low divorce rates and some of them encourage pre-marriage counseling to avoid couples they think are likely not to work. (Low divorce among irreligious can largely be explained by not marrying in the first place. That also explains some of these groups issues, but I think is less of an issue) The South is the region with some of the lowest rates of these religions. Although Louisiana has a great deal of Catholics and a fairly high "divorce rate to marriage rate." On this element I'd theorize that what's also relevant is an emphasis on adult baptism or "saving experiences." Because of this it's tolerated, or even expected, that one may go through a "wild period" in early adulthood that may include a bad marriage. Also I find the "Bible Belt" faiths have a bit of a "black and white" tendency where "bad people" don't necessarily have to "try" because they are damned unless they get "saved." There might be a bit of "do or not do, there is no try." Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Mormonism might allow a bit more that everyone should "try" to be good and that effort is required for everyone.
None of these entirely explain, but I'm thinking a mix of these and maybe other factors might explain much of it. It's not religiousness, or Christian orientation, of the Bible Belt. I would guess the "Dutch Bible Belt" might not be like this and many of the more highly religious Catholic, Mormon, or Orthodox nations are not particularly high in divorce. (I don't know of any highly religious Lutheran nations, although maybe Latvia or parts of Lapland are close. By "Mormon nations" I mean those South Pacific island nations that might be plurality Mormon, I'm not sure there is a majority-Mormon nation.) It's more unique circumstances of the South and Southern Christianity coupled with secularists tending not to marry in the first place.
Last edited by Thomas R.; 08-25-2011 at 09:54 PM..
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