A ‘Generation X’ Divorce?

This week, The Wall Street Journal’s Susan Gregory Thomas examines today’s “divorce generation.” She seeks to explain how her fellow Generation X peers, born between 1965 and 1980, have been affected by the divorces of their parents.

Thomas, whose parents divorced when she was 12 years old, told her husband throughout her marriage, “Whatever happens, we’re never going to get divorced.” “To allow our own marriages to end in divorce is to live out our worst childhood fears,” she explains. Even worse, “it is to inflict the unthinkable on what we most love and want to protect: our children.” Though determined to keep her marriage alive, she describes her and her husband as “wretched, passive-aggressive roommates” before they eventually split after nine years of marriage.

Despite going through a much-feared divorce, Thomas points out that a hopeful difference between Generation X divorces and those of the past is the “friendly divorce,” which she states “is increasingly a trend and a real possibility.”

The popularity of less expensive, more peaceful divorce settlements, according to Thomas, are easier on today’s children. She cites a University of Virginia study that reported that couples who chose mediation over litigation were more likely to discuss their children’s needs and be involved in their lives and activities. She also points to the fact that, unlike during the 1970s, joint custody is permitted in every state. This allows for more stability and less conflict amongst divorced spouses. While children of divorce do sometimes end up getting divorced themselves, Thomas concludes, “We can only hope that in this, we have done it differently in the right way.”

To read the full article, click here: The Wall Street Journal