It is not new news that divorce hurts not only parents but children. Many parents feel their children will eventually get over it and return to normal lives and development, but according to the American Sociological Review, the detrimental effects on the children do not start until after the parents begin divorce proceedings.

Hyun Sik Kim, a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison stated:

“People tend to think that couples go through intense marital conflict before the divorce. My original prediction was that children of divorce would experience negative impacts even before formal divorce processes began. But my study finds that this is not the case. This study reveals that these negative impacts do not worsen in the post-divorce stage, although there is no sign that children of divorce catch up with their counterparts, either.”

The study was based on data that tracked the development of 3,585 students from kindergarten through fifth grade to examine the impact before, during and after the divorce. Kim compared the progress of children whose parents were going through a divorce with youngsters from so called “stable” families. He found that developmental problems continued after the divorce.

Kim further explains how school activities and subjects were adversely affected:

“Reading is not that cumulative. But with math, you must understand previous things to develop. For example, if I do not understand that one plus one is two, then I cannot understand multiplication.”

The Americans for Divorce Reform estimates that probably, 40 or possibly even 50 percent of marriages will end in divorce if current trends continue.

As the divorce rate in America rises, bad effects do happen on the children who are used to growing up with both parents. When both parents raise a child, the child is learning different things from each parent. The child is also developing its own personality by getting traits from each parent. When divorce leads one parent to leave the household, it has a huge effect on the children.

When a parent leaves the household, this can make the child withdraw and feel unwanted. It can affect their schoolwork, social skills, and their activities. They may act out in different ways, to show adults they are not happy with this change in their life. It may also affect the child when the child becomes an adult. When the child becomes a parent, they may think it is not important for their child to have both parents involved in their life.

Kim concludes:

“Children may also experience some disturbing signs. Divorcing parents maybe cannot focus on caring about children. They may be prone to argue with children and I think that may influence children’s development.”

Currently according to some studies, 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce. Sociologists believe that childlessness is also a common cause of divorce. The absence of children leads to loneliness and weariness and even in the United States, at least 66% of all divorced couples are childless.

Sources: The American Sociological Association and DivorceRate.org

Written by Sy Kraft