Development of Marriage and Divorces

Development of Marriages in Germany

As in most other industrialized countries, the number of marriages in Germany has been decresing for many years. The peak was reached in 1950 with 11 of 1000 citizens getting married per year (about 750,000 on the whole), nowadays there are only 4.6 of 1000 left (equals ca. 377,000).

Couples are also getting married later: In 1970 the average age at marriage (East and West Germany together) was about 25 for men and 22 for women, nowadays it’s 32.7 and 29.8.

The following graphic shows the development of marriages in Germany. There’s a rise in marriages in the 90s, because West and East Germany were united and before 1992 these statistics include only West Germany.

However, you also have to consider that German society is always getting older and therefore there are not so many people left who could still marry.

Statistics by Federal Statistical Office Germany

Development of Divorces in Germany

Divorces meanwhile have nearly doubled from 1950 to 2008.

The graphic shows the development of marriage in Germany, once again taking only numbers of West Germany before 1990, which makes it seem even more extremous. To be able to get the number of whole Germany before 1990 you have to add about 25,000–40,000.

Statistics by Federal Statistical Office Germany

The minimum in 1978 can be explained by a reform of the marriage law which lead to a temporary decline of divorces. However, already between 1980 and 1982 the old level was reached again.

Are Divorces Modern?

Some sociologists say the number of divorces was an indicator for the modernity of society. They claim it showed in how far society has dealt with the rights of women. Probably, in their eyes it’s also about “getting rid of religion”, but I cannot prove it.

The statement itself might be true, but in a positve way? In my opinion the number of divorces just shows our incapability of coping with problems. In modern society everything has to work perfectly, without much struggle; a part of society does not want to put any effort into their actions at all.

However this apathy when one should act stops love from developing at all. Love is something that has to grow and gets stronger with each problem you solve. Current world is spoilt by romantic hollywood movies showing a world through rose-coloured glasses. Movies and series also paint an image of marriage being the worst possibility ever, they pretend that the state of having butterflies in one’s stomach should last forever. Thus, not being able to reach this dream world, some people give up along the way.

Problems for parents and children

Moreover, divorces are in my opinion not good for the children. We have an increasing number of so called Patchwork-Familien (stepfamiles) consisting of one parent and some children of both families. However, the children still meet with their real mother/father often, which shows that there is still a strong relationship which cannot be replaced by the new family.

Some parents decide to raise their children alone, which leads to new problems, because their income is basically smaller and they do not have enough time to care for their children alone. There have been reports that the social help of the state for single mothers and fathers is far too little.

Future?

It will be interesting to see if this decline of marriages and rise of divorces will go on or there will be a return to long-time marriage again. Another interesting question is in how far the development would change if politics changed the fiscal law from having a special status for married couples to having a special status for couples with children—which is being demanded by some groups.

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Sunday, February 21, 2010