A fair comparison cannot be made of the rate of divorce in different countries or states since there exists such wide discrepancies in the laws themselves, diminishing or increasing the difficulties of obtaining divorces. So marked are the differences in the divorce laws in the various states of the United States, that certain communities have won the title of “divorce colonies” and thereby attracted at least a temporary increase of population. Hence, low divorce rates may merely mean a greater difficulty in obtaining separation.
In some countries the expense of obtaining a divorce makes it a luxury beyond the poor. In England and Wales “the expense and delay involved in procuring a divorce there are so great that only somewhat wealthy persons can go into court, and they do not feel so severely the burden of a financial crisis. This conjectural explanation derives some support from the fact which a French statistician of some eminence claims to have proved, that such periods of distress in Great Britain, while checking marriage among the poor, are attended by an increase of marriage among the rich. This difference between effects of hard times in Europe and in the United States, together with a very rapid increase in divorce among the southern negroes, and the fact that only about one wife in six of these obtaining divorce receives an alimony, are among the indications that divorce has become very frequent and perhaps most frequent among our lower middle classes and has reached for weal or woe a lower stratum than perhaps anywhere in Europe.”[95]
We all know that the divorce rate is higher in the United States than in any European country, and is increasing more rapidly. “In 1870 there were 155 divorces, and in 1880, 303 divorces, to 100,000 married couples. In 1870, 3.5 per cent of the marriages were terminated by divorce; in 1880, 4.8 per cent; and in 1890, 6.2 per cent.”
According to the Census Report of 1906 the divorce-rate is still increasing rapidly. From 1887 to 1891 there was an increase of divorces of 34.1 per cent; from 1892 to 1896 an increase of 23.9 per cent.; from 1897 to 1901 an increase of 33.7 per cent.; and from 1902 to 1906 an increase of 27.6 per cent.[96]
As we have already seen, the decrease of the importance of women’s work in the home has affected the status of women generally, economically and socially. Among the poor it has forced many married women to seek employment outside the home. The inability of the husband and father to meet his economic responsibilities has imposed upon women an added responsibility. And in so far as mothers of families have shouldered economic burdens outside the home there is a tendency for fathers to lose their family pride and sense of economic independence. The man who must remain at home, do the housework and care for the children, while his wife goes out to earn the living, if he cares at all, feels that he has failed dismally. Charity workers agree that the economic independence of women of the most unfortunate classes has the effect of lessening the moral responsibility of the supposed bread-winner and head of the family. Desertion on the part of fathers is so common as to create a social problem.
The causes for desertion are many, and work toward a decreased respect for family ties. “The great amount of travel due to constantly increasing means of communication; the ease with which a man, accustomed to one of the simple processes of modern machinery, can adapt himself to many others without any long training, so making employment more readily obtainable; the fuller knowledge of other communities afforded by the multiplied newspapers, and perhaps the numerous items about other deserters which awaken a dormant impulse, just as cheap novels prompt some boys to start out as Indian fighters, all contribute to the state of mind which makes desertion possible. If a man who had indulged such thoughts, can, without much time or expense, in some cases even by investing a nickel or less, by taking a trolley or a ferry, put himself into a neighboring state, beyond the power of the court to compel him to support his family, where he can spend all he earns for his own gratification, he is in danger of finding some excuse for going.”[97]
When one considers that a large percentage of the people with whom the social workers deal are foreigners and children of foreigners; that religious precepts are comparatively strong; and that they cling to custom and traditions with greater tenacity than the more fortunate classes, it seems justifiable to attribute the large number of separations in this class—although many of these separations are never registered in the divorce courts—to economic causes.
Divorce, like many of our social institutions has been influenced by the rights of property, and is no true criterion for measuring the moral habits of a people. Where property rights are considered most sacred the institution of divorce is almost unknown. This is especially true when the existing forms of wealth are closely allied to land holding. There, industrial development is backward and all the social institutions reflect the conservative influence of the past, rather than the progressive movements of the present. For instance, the southern states, where property rights and institutions arising out of the same reflect the spirit of the patriarchal slavery system, divorce is less common. And yet the morality among the lower social classes there does not compare favorably with other sections of the country where the divorce-rate is high. It is among the better classes that the family represents a compactness and stability wherein divorce has little play.
It is true there are some states which represent an advanced industrial development as is found in the country where divorce is granted only for adultery. But in these states such restriction is felt to be oppressive. This is evident by the number who seek release from conjugal ties in other than their home state. What is true of England is true of certain American states, that is, the low divorce-rate is the result of the difficulty of obtaining legal separations. For example the home life in New York is not any more admirable than the home life in the extreme west where the divorce-rate is the highest.
Unless the industrial development and economic conditions are similiar it is impossible to measure the moral standards of communities by a comparison of their divorce-rates. Legislation dealing directly with family relations ought to take into consideration the industrial habits of the community as well as the moral and social ideals arising out of existing conditions.