{"id":335530,"date":"2025-08-01T08:45:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=335530"},"modified":"2025-08-04T16:53:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T21:53:26","slug":"kids-not-alright-divorce-generations-deprioritize-marriage-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/kids-not-alright-divorce-generations-deprioritize-marriage-family\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kids Are Not Alright: Has divorce trauma led generations to deprioritize marriage and family?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Millennials and Gen Zers are having fewer children than previous generations, leading to speculation about possible reasons why. One frequently overlooked reason is the traumatic experience of a parental divorce and how it can shape the way children view marriage and children.<\/p>\n

Divorce often teaches children that 1) a spouse can’t be relied on for any type of security, and 2) because of this, their independent<\/em> future financial security is paramount.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s and 80s, children were raised amid record-high divorce rates, and were led to believe that if they didn’t follow a certain pattern and order for living \u2014 a sort of “checklist” for life \u2014 that their lives and futures could be ruined. Self-protection became the order of the day, and that transitioned into a somewhat self-focused lifestyle.<\/p>\n

It should not be surprising, then, that Millennials and Gen Zers who have been expected to adhere to this mental “checklist” for life have been deprioritizing marriage and children in their own lives.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways:<\/h2>\n
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  • Divorce rates hit their peak in 1980, after climbing steadily through the 1970s.<\/li>\n
  • An increasing number of Gen Xers and older Millennials grew up in broken homes, watching their parents deal with painful separations and divorces \u2014 while they experienced this trauma as children.<\/li>\n
  • Many of those parents (often of the Baby Boomer generation) \u2014 possibly as a protective mechanism \u2014 urged them to treat life’s great milestones as a sort of mental “checklist” that should happen only in a specific order<\/em> \u2014 and financial stability along with self sufficiency were usually near the top of that list, with marriage and children near the end.<\/li>\n
  • This mental “checklist,” coupled with childhood trauma from divorce, may have contributed to a delay (or avoidance of) marriage and children unless other things on the “list” were checked off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The Background:<\/h2>\n

    In 1969, California became the first state to legalize no-fault divorce, in which a couple can legally separate without either party being accused of wrongdoing. Prior to this time, the divorcing spouse was expected to provide a justification for the filing \u2014 such as adultery, abandonment, or cruelty.<\/p>\n

    No-fault divorce changed that, and divorce rates skyrocketed, with Baby Boomers divorcing at astonishing rates<\/a>. The divorce rate hit its peak in 1980, at 22.6 per 1,000 people, and began to decline from there. Though divorce rates are now lower (the Census Bureau reported<\/a> a divorce rate of 16.7 in 2022), the state of marriage never fully recovered.<\/p>\n

    During the 1970s, as Boomers were getting divorced, their children \u2014 Gen Xers and older Millennials \u2014 weren’t just watching it; they were living it. It was commonly believed that children were resilient and did well in spite of divorce, as long as the parents remained amicable and were able to spend time with both parents.<\/p>\n

    This belief turned out to be incorrect.<\/p>\n

    Although there are circumstances when divorce is warranted, the reality is that it has a detrimental effect<\/a> on the mental health of children. Children whose parents divorce are more likely to struggle in school, experience drug and alcohol abuse, engage in risky sexual behavior, struggle with depression and mood disorders, and live in poverty. Children of divorce are also more likely to get divorced<\/a> as adults \u2014 particularly women.<\/p>\n