Divorce rates have fallen in the US, while a majority of the 'very religious' now consider it morally acceptable – matching the trend of the nation.
For the first time, a majority (51 per cent) of those described as 'very religious' would now call divorce morally acceptable, according to a poll published last week by Gallup. This group has traditionally been – and still are – the most opposed to divorce, with just 43 per cent considering it morally acceptable from 2001-2004.
In contrast, 68 per cent of the 'somewhat religious' said divorce was acceptable, while 85 per cent of the non-religious said the same. Although the Catholic Church is clear on its opposition to divorce, 73 per cent of US Catholics surveyed from 2015-17 said it was acceptable – matching the national average exactly.
Among Protestants and other non-Catholic Christians, 64 per cent said divorce was morally acceptable.
The Gallup study found that across the US, the moral acceptability of divorce has risen by 14 percentage points since 2001. At the same time, the national divorce rate has fallen to its lowest point in decades, what the study says could mean the end of the 'divorce revolution' of the 1980s and 1990s, which saw a spike in marital separations.
Married adults are now for the first time about as likely as those unmarried to say that divorce is morally acceptable.
Although divorce rates have fallen, marriage rates have fallen too, as young adults continue to delay the commitment, and cohabitation becomes more common for couples. American adults are less likely to see marriage as important to the raising of children.
The study concludes: 'As US adults come to see marriage differently than in the past, it seems natural that they will view divorce differently too. It may be that both marriage and divorce are no longer viewed in moral terms, but rather seen as legal or formal processes.'
