Legislators seek to reduce suffering by reducing divorce
AUSTIN?Conservative lawmakers are pushing legislation to reform Texas' family law code, one bill at a time. While previous legislative sessions have passed bills pertaining to healthy marriages and promoting premarital counseling, the 81st session of the Texas legislature is considering a bill that would encourage couples headed toward divorce to reconsider.
While many Christians held out hope of passage of former State Rep. Bill Zedler's bill to offer an option between a standard marriage license and a covenant marriage, the current climate of the Texas Legislature appears unlikely to entertain such a proposal.
However, Rep. Warren Chisum of Pampa introduced House Bill 480 earlier this year to require a 10-hour marriage education course for couples with minor children who are filing for divorce on the grounds of insupportability. It was scheduled for public hearing on March 16.
In pushing family law reform, these lawmakers say they hope to lower the state's divorce costs, pull potentially broken homes out of poverty, and promote a more stable society.
Statistics vary regarding divorce rates. A March 2008 Barna Research study discovered one-third of married adults have experienced divorce, either in their own marriages or as a child of a failed marriage.
"This means that among all Americans 18 years of age or older, whether they have been married or not, 25 percent have gone through a marital split," a release on the Barna website noted.
In comparing the divorce rate of born-again Christians to the divorce rate of non-believing adults, the study revealed a nearly identical figure?32 percent versus 33 percent, respectively. Speaking to the findings of his study, George Barna called divorce an "unavoidable rite of passage."
"Interviews with young adults suggest that they want their initial marriage to last, but are not particularly optimistic about that possibility," he said. "There is also evidence that many young people are moving toward embracing the idea of serial marriage, in which a person gets married two or three times, seeking a different partner for each phase of their adult life."
Barna's research confirms that positive and traditional views regarding marriage have taken a hit in the last two decades. The National Healthy Marriage Resource Center reported that less than one-half of all high school seniors believe that choosing marriage over remaining single or cohabiting leads to a fuller, happier life.
These data support overall trends indicating Americans are adopting increasingly positive attitudes toward nontraditional marital and family values including divorce, cohabitation, remaining single, egalitarian gender roles, and premarital sex.
In 2005, Texas reported 3.3 divorces per 1,000 people, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. While falling behind the overall average found by Barna, the percentage of divorced adults in Texas is as follows: Caucasian (16 percent); African American (21.9 percent); Hispanics (11.4 percent). In 2006, Texas reported a little over 3 million children living in families below the federal poverty level?just over half of these children were living with married parents.
Statistics regarding the consequences of divorce are well documented. The website of The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank, posts recent studies regarding the state of the family and marriage. From national research, the foundation posted its top 10 findings regarding influencers of the quality and stability of marriage. Of special significance are its findings regarding the economic decline of divorced and cohabitating couples, especially for women and children; after divorce, household standards of living are 20 percent lower, home ownership drops by 12 percent, and household incomes are $13,000 lower.
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