Women in their twenties help raise divorce rate

1.SKIMMING …Read the article and give the main idea of it.

 

Women who marry in their twenties are adding to the soaring divorce rate by splitting up from their husbands before they reach 30.

The overall rate in England and Wales has reached a seven-year high, with 153,490 couples getting divorced in 2003. It is the third year in a row that the rate has increased. A marriage that ends in divorce lasts, on average, only 11 years. For women, divorce is highest among those aged 25 to 29. Their marriages are breaking up at a rate of almost 29 per 1,000, more than double the national average.

Divorce for men peaks among the 30-34 age group, with nearly 28 divorces per 1,000. The average age for men getting divorced is 42 and for women 39.

The growing rate undermines the theory that, because fewer people are marrying, those who do are more committed to making the relationship last.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics also underestimate the true figure for breakdowns in relationships because many couples live together outside marriage and they are even more likely to split up.

Dr Andrew Parker, of the Department of Sociology at Warwick University, said: "The traditional household, where women do most of the housework and men are the main breadwinners, is probably still quite pervasive, particularly among the working class.

Britons are working longer hours than other Europeans and taking fewer holidays. Women are more financially secure and confident.

Relate, the marriage guidance group, said it was seeing more cases in which husbands or wives were starting affairs with old friends or former lovers they had contacted through the internet.

Christine Northam, a senior counsellor, said: "It is easy to surf around and see what happened  to old so-and-so. If you are feeling wobbly in your relationship, you may look back to a rose-tinted past".

Carolynne Bull-Edwards, a spokesman for Friends Reunited, said the website was no more responsible for divorce than the telephone.

She said: "We are an intermediary chat reunites people. What happens after that is beyond our control".

The divorce rate was up by 5,755 on 2002, the figures showed. One divorce in 10 occurs between couples who have both been divorced before. Half of the couples had at least one child aged under 16 but in a fifth of cases the children were under five. Sixty-nine per cent of divorces were granted to the wife and in more than half of cases the reason given was the husband's behaviour.

For divorces granted to the husband, the most common factor was two years' separation with consent.

Relate said: "We need to make sure that people are properly prepared for marriage. Sometimes they think about the lovely wedding day and assume that the rest of their life will echo that. But it is just the beginning.

"You have two people coming together into one relationship and you have to be prepared to make adjustments".

From "The Daily Telegraph"

2. Memorize the following words

divorce - розлучення

splitting up - розлучатися

overall - загальний

undermine - підривати

commit – брати на себе зобов’язання

underestimate – недооцінювати

breadwinner – годувальник (сім’ї) 

pervasive – широко поширений

marriage guidance- консультація з питань сім’ї і шлюбу

affairs – любовний зв’язок, роман

wobbly – хитко, невпевнено

intermediary - посередник

behaviour - поведінка

grant – задовольняти (прохання) consent - згода

make adjustments - пристосовуватися

 

3. Answer the questions:

1) Why do women who marry in their twenties divorce before they reach 30?

2) At what age for women and men is the divorce rate the highest? Why?

3) What is the traditional household?

 

3. Role-playing.

You are going to make speech at the conference. Look through the article and be ready to tell about marriage problems, divorce in your country and abroad.

Use new words.

 

4. Brainstorm

Steps to reduce the divorce rate

5. Questions for analyses and reflection

- Why is marriage just the beginning?

- Is it necessary to prepare people for marriages? 

- Who is the leader of the family, a man or a woman? 

- Who is a breadwinner in the family to your mind?

 

 

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