Military = High Divorce Rates
Military people are the people that are brave enough to fight for the United States inside of the Armed forces, but many of these men and women have been getting divorced a lot. This is due to the fact that many people that are in the Military do not get much time to spend with their family and this increases the divorce rate for military men and women.
The military life is not an easy one and because of this many of the men and women that are having to deal with the stress of fighting for our country then have do deal with the added problem of getting divorced with someone the military person loved while the military person is not even inside of the same country. There are a number of things that the military tries to do to cure this and to get military men not to get divorced easily, one of these things is having counseling available for couples that are having problems dealing with being separate for long periods of time.
The divorce rate is not something that comes easy to people that are looking to join inside the military. This is because these men and women of the nation already have to deal with being out in a war and then they are also going to possible deal with a divorce between hem and the person they loved just because they did not have enough time to spend together. Often in these kind of situation the significant other will sleep with someone else while the military person is out on active duty, this alone is something that causes the military divorce rate to go up. The highest divorce rate out of the four military branches is the Army, they seem to be doing the worst based on statistics in the divorce rate problem.
Military divorce rates are not the only divorce rates that are going up, back in the 1950s divorce rate was around 1 in 6 couples that got married got into a divorce, now it is a shocking 50% of couples that get married actually end that marriage by getting a divorce. Hard jobs are something that increase this percentage and these kind of statistics can give you more of an idea how high the divorce rates for the United States are. One thing that a couple that is feeling like they will not make it can do, is try to talk their feelings over with their wife or husband as talking is one of the things that will open up feelings and help to lay out any problems that you could be having inside of a marriage.
One thing that can also help decrease divorce rate for the military, is by making sure before you get married that you are ready for this kind of commitment. Divorce is not something that should be done all the time and to keep yourself out of the statistic just make sure that you would like to spend the rest of your life with someone before taking the leap and actually getting a wedding. Remember these tips if you are a military man or woman thinking about getting a marriage as marriage is a huge commitment and it is not good to be divorced, keep your head in the game and make sure you want to get married before you to so you do not end up having a divorce.
I just want to say that I was prior Navy Corpsman working with Marines and my husband is still in the Navy. Since I had experience being in the military for 5 years, I thought I would understand the role of the military wife and is prepared for all the stress since we were used to being apart. But once I got out and now living together, I realized that I am not prepared for this role. Since moving to our new house in Dec. 2009 and living together, my husband and I haven’t been physically together over 50% of the time. They are always gone (underway) and he works too much even if they are just in port. He was deployed half of last year and since he got back, they’d been underway for a total of 4 months, work long hours (starts at 0600/0700) and works late until 1700-2000, 24 hours duty every 6 days and when half of his ship are on leave, they have 24 hours duty every 3 days. Since they are deploying again in less than a month, their work schedule got worst and I am sick and tired of not being able to spend time with him. By the time he gets home, he’s too tired to do anything. I know I should be very supportive and understanding but him not having time to spend with his family is very frustrating. I would never cheat and this thought never cross my mind but now I could see why this happens often. If you are the wife or husband, you need a time to spend with your spouse and feel the love but when you are working too much and always gone, that spouse left behind would feel neglected and alone. I LOVE MY HUSBAND and thank God for blessing me with friends and families and for giving me the strength and courage with this stressful life but there are times when I wonder if this is really what I want in a relationship. I feel like his command is doing this on purpose since most of them doesn’t like to spend time with their spouses/family or don’t have a life.
I realize I’m commenting on a very OLD article. But came across this while researching an article of my own. Your facts are very wrong.
The number one reason military members divorce, it has ALWAYS been the number one reason, is money/finances.
The civilian world always has been and still is higher than that of military divorce.
You wrote this in 2008. According to 2008 statistics, civilian divorce rate was 43% while military was 3.4%. NOT half. It has never been half. Not sure where you got your facts, but as I’m reading some of your other writings, I’m seeing you don’t care. You’re writing based on feeling and perhaps personal experience not actual facts and figures.
Also, as of 2009, it is no longer possible to divorce a deployed service member.
@Bobbi,
Let me correct your ignorance, since you not only have a small understanding of the subject, but accuse me of writing out of “feeling” and my facts being very wrong.
You try to correct me that the divorce rate is 43%, not 50%. Many articles on the internet quote 50% as the divorce rate, and while not accurately correct, is reasonably close to actual fact. Please see http://www.divorcestatistics.org as a source. Since divorce rate can not be consistently measured as fact, it really depends who you you choose to get your statistics from, and when. The Census Bureau’s often-cited “50%” rate, the proportion of marriages taking place right now that will eventually divorce, has since been revised downward to roughly 43% by the National Center for Health Statistics. The Census bureau is not the only source for divorce statistics either. Try independent studies done by Divorce Magazine or Forest Institute of Professional Psychology which have their own numbers about divorce also.
It might also educate you to know that the military divorce rate of 3.4% is based on surveys of active members of the military. The statistic does not include couples that divorce after their military service has ended. The benefits you get (from the military) for being married and the difficulty in proceeding with divorce while overseas causes many couples to wait on filing for divorce until after the spouse has finished serving, and consequently is a lot lower than the civilian divorce rate.
I don’t agree that money/finance is the number one reason military couples get divorced, and I don’t know of any source that says that either (where do you get your facts.. lol). In fact, there are huge financial incentives to STAYING married while serving in the military. Base housing or housing allowance and family separation allowances can easily add an extra $1500+ a month, depending on your duty station and/or if you have children. Many couples rush into marriage for this very reason, which may not be the best choice. The reason military couples get divorced is not attributed to one reason, but rather compounding factors. The majority of military couples (that get divorced) are under 26, have at least one child, and have been married less than 3 years, which contributes heavily. When a spouse enters the military: Infidelity, resentment, and money issues all become symptoms of separation, not the reason for divorce.
And “as of 2009, it’s no longer possible to divorce a deployed service member”, where did you get this information? Military divorces still occured in 2010 at similar rates to previous years and I cannot find a anything related to a new law passed related to military divorce in 2009. The idea that we would force couples into staying married, for any reason, is plain ridiculous – at least in the United States.
I always appreciate someones comment, especially from another writer, but please do some more research before you write your article. The internet is full of enough misinformation from people like you.
Yes I agree, and Amen to the Call of Duty remark. Bonnie I couldn’t of said it better myself. But How about the so called solider that isn’t over seas and works all of 3-4 hours per day, but as soon as he hits to door it’s sport center or video games. He feels that as long as he has a paycheck coming in, this is his only responsibility.
The Military can be a wonderful experience for families but it up to the service member to provide not only financially for his family but mentally and emotionally as well. I predict more military spouses will either cheat or divorce not because of the military but because the service member isn’t taking care of his home and using his status as a soldier to be a looser in the home…
Prime example playing call of duty or any other video games more than they work or spend quality time with the family that has sacrificed so much!
Signed by a Navy neglected soon to be Ex spouse!
“Just” because they can’t spend time with their families? You’re obviously not – and never have been – in the military. You also fail to acknowledge the stress faced by those of us left alone at home to deal with the kids, the house, the bills, the cars, the credit, the appointments, etc. We sleep an average of 4 hours in any given 24-hour period while our husbands sit on their sorry asses web chatting with some naked floozie and playing Call of Duty for hours on end and enjoying 9-10 hours of sleep every night. Then they call home when they FEEL like it and bitch about how we’re handling everything and offer us ZERO emotional support.
We’re not all weak little cheating wives, and not every soldier is a hero.
@Bonnie
There is no insinuation that every soldier is a male and every partner left at home is a cheating wife. What I said was that the distance and time apart can often cause one or both parties to cheat, and this is the most common reason listed for divorce.
When spouses go into the military it creates an incredible stress on both parties, 1 party, or sometimes neither. Every situation is different, but there’s no avoiding the fact that military couples face much higher rates of divorce, and the point of this article was to make [those that might be facing such a situation] aware of the effects being in a military relationship can have on a family and marriage.