Failed marriages abound in Arkansas
The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Opinion
Until the election, Arkansas conservatives were warning voters of the instability cohabiting couples would lend foster or adoptive children. And while their statistics were correct - that cohabiting couples are more likely to break up than married couples - it's a difficult point to argue when Arkansas also has the second-highest divorce rate in the country.
It's something sure hard to swallow for residents of a predominately conservative Christian state that more people divorce here than in, say, New York or the District of Columbia.
In fact, Arkansas's rate of six divorces per 1,000 couples in 2005 is much higher than that of New York, where, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.8 couples divorce per 1,000, or D.C., where only two per 1,000 split up.
The causes of divorce often are discussed, but low-educated and impoverished couples seem to be in the worst shape. And because Arkansas also ranks low among states in residents with a college degree, according to the Arkansas Task Force on Higher Education, and third-to-last in median household income, according to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau, it seems as if Arkansans have the odds against them.
But that doesn't have to be true. Though marriages fail for a variety of reasons - financial stress and less education among them - they are inevitably stronger for couples who go through some kind of premarital preparation or counseling, as well as for couples who choose not to cohabit before tying the knot.
Various studies, including one from the National Council on Family Studies, have shown that couples who cohabit before marriage are more likely to break up than those who don't, and others have shown that preparation is key in preventing couples from rushing into marriage. At least seven states, Arkansas not one of them, even provide incentives for those willing to go through some kind of premarital counseling.
And in a state where first marriages occur at a younger age than in all but two others, a little premarital preparation might be just what's needed.
Of course, plenty of marriages dissolve for reasons that seem unavoidable, like abuse, neglect or unfaithfulness. But the majority of Arkansas married couples, at least we hope, aren't victims to such mistreatment.
It's regrettable, obviously, that Arkansas ranks so low in the number of marriages that work out. But there are nearly 20,000 students on the UA campus right now, students who are receiving a higher education from a top-tier university, students who soon will be out in the real world, students who are already making decisions about all sorts of commitments, including marriage.
So here's to hoping that marriage remains - or becomes again - a commitment for life instead of simply a trial run or a rushed decision.
It's something sure hard to swallow for residents of a predominately conservative Christian state that more people divorce here than in, say, New York or the District of Columbia.
In fact, Arkansas's rate of six divorces per 1,000 couples in 2005 is much higher than that of New York, where, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.8 couples divorce per 1,000, or D.C., where only two per 1,000 split up.
The causes of divorce often are discussed, but low-educated and impoverished couples seem to be in the worst shape. And because Arkansas also ranks low among states in residents with a college degree, according to the Arkansas Task Force on Higher Education, and third-to-last in median household income, according to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau, it seems as if Arkansans have the odds against them.
But that doesn't have to be true. Though marriages fail for a variety of reasons - financial stress and less education among them - they are inevitably stronger for couples who go through some kind of premarital preparation or counseling, as well as for couples who choose not to cohabit before tying the knot.
Various studies, including one from the National Council on Family Studies, have shown that couples who cohabit before marriage are more likely to break up than those who don't, and others have shown that preparation is key in preventing couples from rushing into marriage. At least seven states, Arkansas not one of them, even provide incentives for those willing to go through some kind of premarital counseling.
And in a state where first marriages occur at a younger age than in all but two others, a little premarital preparation might be just what's needed.
Of course, plenty of marriages dissolve for reasons that seem unavoidable, like abuse, neglect or unfaithfulness. But the majority of Arkansas married couples, at least we hope, aren't victims to such mistreatment.
It's regrettable, obviously, that Arkansas ranks so low in the number of marriages that work out. But there are nearly 20,000 students on the UA campus right now, students who are receiving a higher education from a top-tier university, students who soon will be out in the real world, students who are already making decisions about all sorts of commitments, including marriage.
So here's to hoping that marriage remains - or becomes again - a commitment for life instead of simply a trial run or a rushed decision.
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