High Underage Married and Divorce rates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

High Underage Married and Divorce rates - Essay Example The increase in the number of underage marriages has translated into a similar increase in the rates of divorce in the U.S. The divorce rate in the U.S. is very high and it is directly linked to the high rate of underage marriage. Underage marriage and divorce rates According to the National healthy Marriage Resource Center, most young teenagers and people in their young youth are getting into marriage with the aim of creating a future with their spouses. None of them plans to be involved in a divorce. While there is no way of predicting the future, past statistics have revealed that the majority of the underage marriage unions end in divorce after the first several years. Most teenagers are entering into marriage as an experimental game. They lack the knowledge of the true meaning of marriage; hence they are unable to stick with their partners when reality finally hits them. Underage marriages in the US are very peculiar since the teenagers who get married mostly live apart from eac h other. This is mainly because they are not financially stable and they have to continue relying on their parents (Lehrer 466). Statistics from surveys reveals that the teenagers in the age bracket of 15-17 years have increasingly been entering into their first marriage. The teenagers are entering into marriage with the consent of their parents and they are very excited to tie the knot with their first loves. 1% of all the teenagers in this bracket in America are married. Those in the bracket of 18-19 are even more in the married category. This bracket is made up of teenagers in college and in the universities where the rate of marriage is in an increasing trend. Most of the teenagers in various America universities get married even without the consent of their parents since the law allows it. The number of annual underage marriages is alarming increasing and the laws governing marriageable ages in different states keep lowering the age limit. In majority of the states, 16 years is the legal marriageable age but lower ages can also be permitted by the court to marry with the consent of their parents or guardians (Lehrer 469). The divorce rate in the US has been on an increasing trend for the past several decades. Most researchers have concluded that 50% of all marriages in the US end up in divorce. The high increase in the divorce rates can be linked to the similar increase in underage marriages. The young couples who get married do not last more than two years together in most of the cases. Divorce researchers have found that the average age of those who file for divorce is 20 years. Young adults make up the largest number of divorce cases in the US. Most of them blame it on the early age that they got into married at. The divorce rate in the US for persons under the age of 20 years is 27.6% for the females and 11.7% for the males. This reveals that females are the worst affected by the rising rate of underage marriage (Lehrer 469-470). Figure 1. Pie chart r epresentation of the marriage rate for those under 20 years. Analysis Among the reasons why underage marriages are on a high trend nowadays is the fact that the present teens in the society are very sexually active. Most teenagers engage in their first sexual encounter at the age of 15. More often than not, the children do not have the knowledge on how to use the various forms of contraceptives that are available. This leads to