June 2, 2026- In a nation where half of those who get married or remarried have a strong chance of divorcing, it certainly makes a lot of sense to make sure you are ready when you get married. A further negative outcome of ill advised marriages that end in divorce that is often not considered is the impact of divorce on children. It is not talked about enough, but the well documented negative results of divorce on children that include educational attainment, educational achievement, parental estrangement, economic home strength, anger and psychological issues, identity confusion, socialization issues and low self-esteem need to be taken into account when divorce is considered. From someone who has worked with married couples and individuals getting divorced over the years, a common reason divorced persons or unhappily married persons have given me when asked why they married said they were not thinking clearly about the decision. This is actually shocking when one considers how important marriage is, and how often people will spend weeks debating what type of a car or appliance to buy before they buy it, but will get married and quite possibly have children, when clearly the odds of the marriage failing are far greater.
They people do all the appropriate planning and thinking prior to getting married. Common reasons persons give for having gotten married that they now know were not good reasons would include believing they were too invested in the relationship to not marry even when loaded with doubts, too young and immature, under extreme pressure from outside persons and family to marry, educational differences, life goals, spending priorities, child rearing, spiritual differences, deciding to go contrary to what friends and family who advised them not to get married, feeling short term intense shallow love that seemed unbreakable, physical attraction that was extreme, no real knowledge of each other, rebounding from a divorce or horrible breakup, unrealistic expectations, fears of being alone, choosing to be married when not being married seems worse, and financial need and support. A simple point here is that prior to getting married, couples need to get to know each other very well and determine what the expectations for the marriage and their future include. To not do this is to greatly increase the possibility of unhappiness and divorce.