Originally posted by: poopaskoopa
Can't speak for other countries besides the U.S. and Japan, but I suspect that it has to do with the options available to women(and men). Women in the U.S. have easier times landing jobs that pay enough for herself and her kid(s) partly because they're also not subjected to overt discrimination due to age/gender in terms of hiring and wages(compared to Japan).
Perhaps 12 years ago...but my wife just left there as a single older woman making $5-6K USD monthly as a programmer. Her girlfriends made similar. Yes the men do make a bit more on average, but that's worldwide. The difference is much less than in america though...so much so that many of our Japanese friends are concerning returning home.
There's also less social stigma for being a divorcee in the U.S.. There's also better support infrastructure for child support collection for women in the U.S.. While the divorced women on ATOT may or may not scoff at this, my mother had nowhere to turn(in Japan) as a single mother to collect child support from my father, and I've seen my stepfather's(an American) 1st wife ride his ass in numerous ways to get more money out of him(in the U.S.) So while I've never walked in your shoes, if I were to do it, I'd like to do it in the U.S..
You are giving reasons that basically say worldwide everyone would divorce more if afforded a 'risk-free' split....bleh. I don't think that's the case at all. In the US we are taught (I wasn't) that the only thing that matters is you. P!ss on everyone else no matter how wrong you are. Only in america do you find such p1sspoor service oriented work. Young kids working waiter/server jobs and acting as if they are too good to serve. They can't be fired because you'd only have to train another exactly the same.
It's a mess and this leads to selfish adults and selfish adults walk out on things. There are legitimate reasons for divorce I feel...and I feel other nations divorce more or less for the legimate things....there are always exceptions though.
I see people bemoaning high divorce rates here, but I think it's better than seeing couples trapped together. Divorce rates may be lower elsewhere, but I think it's inaccurate to assume that the married couples in other countries know how to work out their issues any better than the married couples in the U.S.. It could be that they have no other option. It certainly appeared that way in Japan.
I've heard that the divorce rate in Japan has been rising. I haven't been there for the past 12 years, so maybe it's easier for divorced women over there now. I hope so.
Again this info is a little dated. 12 years ago people didn't kiss in the streets, even hold hands publicly in Japan...now the young are. Women are not as repressed....hell look at the Middle East now, women are starting to take a definitive stand worldwide.
I also think marriages are happier elsewhere as their isn't all this stigma to sex, I think worldwide people tend to have sex pre-maritally much more commonly as a 'relationship' than in america....husbands and wives are more open to the fact that they may be attracted to someone else and the possibility of extra-marital affairs are more openly discussed in many other cultures. They learn love is one thing and sexual attraction is a totally different matter.
I think once people know what a proper relationship is and only enter commitedly to them the more success there would be.
In America, people are quick to jump ship, find the next best thing and marry whoever they are with at that 'magic age' they set for themselves to be married.
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