Divorce rates in South Africa have increased by 5%, according to data by Stats SA.<\/p>\n
Statistics from 2012 shows that 161,112 marriages took place in SA, while just fewer than 22,000\u00a0marriages ended.<\/p>\n
It’s commonly held belief that a high divorce rate is a new trend of a lazier generation that refuse to “stick it out” and make a marriage work.<\/p>\n
A research survey conducted by Pew Research in 2014 found that 40% of South Africans took moral objection to divorce – versus a combined 31% of people who said it was fine, or not a question of morality at all.<\/p>\n
According to attorney Hugh Raichlin, however, current divorce rates are far from “new”.<\/p>\n
“What is a trend we are seeing is that the number of marriages have decreased,” he said during an interview<\/a> with the SABC.<\/p>\n Raichlin quoted a stat showing that between 2003 – 2013, marriage has decreased by 10% – but this could be because statistics on co-habitation aren’t being gathered, he said.<\/p>\n According Raichlin communication<\/strong> is the biggest problem in marriages. “People find it difficult to communicate with each other – and after the initial infatuation period, reality hits home.”<\/p>\n Finances<\/strong> are another issue – particularly in south Africa, where we live in tough economic times.<\/p>\n This is reflected in Stats SA’s data, based on divorce numbers from 2012, which showed that 24.3% of divorces are between couples not economically active.<\/p>\n Another factor leading to divorce is a lack of basic human values, where the attorney sees high levels of infidelity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “Marriage is hard work..whatever you want to succeed at in life that has value, needs hard work and effort. You reap what you sow,”\u00a0Raichlin said.<\/p>\n Here are the hard facts about divorce in South Africa:<\/p>\n The science of morality: how do we make the \u2018right\u2019 decisions?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nWhy do people get\u00a0divorced?<\/h3>\n
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More on South Africa<\/h3>\n