Why do Religious Conservatives have Higher Divorce Rate? Early Marriage and Poverty
Divorce in the United States is more likely to occur in conservative states than liberal ones, due to residents of the former preferring to get married early and problems stemming from poverty, according to a new study.
Demographers Jennifer Glass at the University of Texas at Austin and Philip Levchak at the University of Iowa reviewed divorce data from every county in the country that was collected in 2000.
They found religiously conservative states like Alabama and Arkansas have considerably higher rates of failed marriages than New Jersey and Massachusetts. The two southern states had the second and third highest divorce rates in the U.S. at 13 per 1,000 people (Nevada, with its divorce industry, is number one), compared to the two northeast states’ low rates of six and seven per 1,000 people per year.
The higher rates were attributed to these states’ large concentrations of evangelical Christians, who espouse the importance of marriage over living out of wedlock. This belief frequently leads to people getting married at a young age, which can lead to divorce.
http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/why-do-religious-conservatives-have-higher-divorce-rate-early-marriage-and-poverty-140121?news=852224
