More on Marriage

The 9/29/07 issue of the New York Times had a piece in the OP-ED section with the title, Divorced From Reality. It addressed the interpretation of divorce statistics released last week which suggested that the divorce rate continues to increase and the number of marriages that fail to make both 25th anniversary continues to rise.

However, Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers write that the interpretation is wrong. Basically there was an error in the way the census data was collected. They argue that when the proper data are gathered and analyzed, the exact opposite conclusion could be drawn. They write, "factoring in an appropriate adjustment yields the conclusion that divorce rates have been falling, not rising. This is not just statistical smoke and mirrors...The narrative of rising divorce is also completely at odds with counts of divorce certificates, which show the divorce rate as having peaked at 22.8 divorces per 1,000 married couples in 1979 and to have fallen by 2005 to 16.7."

The media seems much more interested in pouncing on data and interpretations that furthers "the great divorce myth" I believe because it furthers the notion that marriage is an oppressive institution that is no longer functioning and needs either radical redefinition or extinction.