The history of divorce proceedings, as a legal and social phenomenon, is rooted at the beginning of the emergence of civil law. Divorces over time have undergone many changes in possible formats, and are unlikely to cease to be relevant on our planet until modern society comes closer to the utopian ideal, where human relationships are denied the right to make mistakes. Of course, everything has a cause and an effect!
Numerous studies have been done on the statistics related to the amount of officially registered divorces in the United States from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day. The family model, behavioral patterns and generally accepted attitude to family values are a direct reflection of global changes in society and crucial historical events for the country.
The past century has been, without exaggeration, the most dynamic in the history of mankind. Scientific and technological progress, the sexual revolution, the collapse of empires and the creation of new states, the change of eras and political systems, wars and arms races, financial crises, and surges infertility have defined that era.
All of the above events and more have undoubtedly affected the mood in society. But did marriage really cease to be an unshakable icon for men and women in the 21st century, or did the relationship of couples only become more civilized and orderly thanks to the development of family law? Let’s try to understand the key points!
How did the historical turmoil of the 20th century affect Americans’ desire for getting a divorce?
Obviously, at a time when Abraham Lincoln could only dream of a railway that would connect the Atlantic coast with the Pacific coast, there was no modern understanding of the divorce process, and the process of the filing for divorce was impossible for ordinary citizens. Moreover, in the patriarchal society of that time, women could not apply for divorce. The topic of legal dissolution of marriage, so familiar to us today, was a strict taboo.
People created families solely from romantic motives, and the sole purpose of marriage was to continue family traditions since religious education prevailed in the society of that period. Of course, cases of unhappy marriages also occurred, but such couples did not officially divorce. Instead, they got separated and ceased living together, without giving this fact much publicity. This trend continued until the outbreak of World War I.
After the first World War and over the next two decades, the number of divorces in American families increased as a percentage. This was due, inter alia, to changes in the social significance of women and a more democratic attitude of society towards relations between men and women. Because of active movements for gender equality in the USA, for the first time in many years, women could successfully master any profession and freely speculated that choosing a career rather than a family is normal.
The situation changed during the Great Depression in the United States. The tremendous economic shock paradoxically became the indirect reason that the institution of marriage in the country strengthened, and therefore the number of divorces decreased. History repeated itself in the first years after World War II. In the 50s, mass public consciousness was reformed and the concept of the family as an inextricable core became an updated ideology and part of the realization of the American dream.
The 60s of the last century are rightly associated with hippies, rebellion, pacifism, new romance, and freedom of relationship. The atmosphere of the era of flower children directly influenced the mood in society. People began to look at sexual relations much more openly, and many conservative values were pushed into the background. From that time, and in fact, until the late 90s, the number of divorce cases in American families steadily increased.
Scary Millenium: digital era, new trends, internet, social media, online divorce!
With the beginning of the rapid development of digital technologies and the internet at the end of the last century, society has largely changed its traditional views on key processes. The ideal of the family gradually ceased to have the status of something sacred. A person’s private life could no longer be a secret behind seven seals, due to the popularity of social networks concept as a new world religion.
The new generation of so-called millennials is more careful in choosing a circle of communication and building romantic relationships than their parents. The general trend is that people of the 21st century are not in a hurry to start families and marry. At the same time, the development of the civil law system in the USA and the possibility of conducting many legal procedures, such as divorce over the internet, has simplified the attitude towards this issue.
Together, these two factors have contributed to the fact that the US divorce rate chart has reached a certain plateau over the past decade. The widespread use of the uncontested divorce model has allowed spouses who have a strong desire to terminate the marriage to independently prepare all the necessary divorce papers in digital form online, often without the participation of lawyers. This approach significantly reduced the cost of divorce, while making all related legal procedures more affordable and faster.
Simultaneously, initiating divorce proceedings for spouses today has become much easier, thanks to a large number of available online services like Complete Case. The procedures for ending a marriage have become more transparent, understandable, and democratic. Married couples who decide to file for divorce can now directly influence the progress of the case, independently contacting the courts without the assistance of third parties, and minimizing costs while saving time and effort.