Happily Divorced vs. Unhappily Married - Which is Better for Kids?

You're in a conversation and someone says, "Children are better off with happy divorced parents than they are with parents in an unhappy marriage."

What would you say?

In headlines about a celebrity divorce or in conversations with friends in struggling marriages, we often hear that it will be better for kids if their unhappy parents get a divorce. In fact, that line was common in arguing for no-fault divorce laws.

But is it true?

No, and here are 3 reasons why:

First, kids don’t just “get over” divorce.
Second, for kids, two homes are not better than one.
Third, if couples persevere, unhappy marriages often become happy marriages.

Thanks to Katy Faust for her contributions to this video. Katy is the Founder and Director of the children’s rights organization, Them Before Us. You can learn more by visiting thembeforeus.com

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Sources and Recommended Reading:

“Them Before Us: Why We Need a Global Children’s Rights Movement,” by Katy Faust and Stacy Manning

For the study on how divorce affects family relationships, see: “Effects of Divorce on Family Relationships,” Marripedia.org.
http://marripedia.org/effects_of_divorce_on_family_relationships

For the study on the long-term psychological effects on children of parents who live in two different homes, see: Huurre, T., Junkkari, H. and Aro, H. “Long–term Psychosocial effects of parental divorce,” Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 256 (2006), 256–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-006-0641-y

For Elizabeth Marquardt’s research on children of divorced family, see: Elizabeth Marquardt, “Just Whom Is This Divorce ‘Good’ For?” Washington Post, November 6, 2005. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2005/11/06/just-whom-is-this-divorce-good-for/32da3ae3-b15e-491f-a897-96b62a23fe57/

For the study on the physical effects on children of divorce, see: Daniel J. DeNoon, “Children of Divorce Face Higher Stroke Risk,” WebMd, November 22, 2010. https://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20101122/ children-of-divorce-face-higher-stroke-risk#1

For the research on married couples on the brink of divorce, see: Harry Benson and Steve McKay, “Couples on the brink,” Marriage Foundation, February 2017. https://marriagefoundation.org.uk/research/couples- on-the-brink/

For the study on the divorcees’ happiness after divorce, see: Linda J. Waite, Don Browning, William J. Doherty, Maggie Gallagher, Ye Luo, and Scott M. Stanley, “Does Divorce Make People Happy?” Institute for American Values, 2002. http://americanvalues.org/catalog/pdfs/does_divorce_make_people_happy.pdf

Видео Happily Divorced vs. Unhappily Married - Which is Better for Kids? канала What Would You Say