A new study found that divorce rates are significantly higher in conservative states, and lower in liberal ones—and that religion is the main factor of the difference.
“Red States, Blue States, and Divorce: Understanding Regional Variation in Divorce Rates,” due for publication in the American Journal of Sociology, found that that conservative Alabama and Arkansas have close to the highest divorce rates (13 per 1000 people per year), while more liberal New Jersey and Massachusetts have some of the lowest (6 or 7 per 1000 people per year). Why the difference?
“Restricting sexual activity to marriage and encouraging large families seem to make young people start families earlier in life, even though that may not be best for the long-term survival of those marriages,” says Jennifer Glass, a demographer from the University of Texas and one of the study’s authors.
Glass and Phillip Levchak, from the University of Iowa, examined divorce rates and conservatism county by county throughout the United States. They found that while poverty in rural and Southern counties does contribute to higher divorce rates, it didn’t completely explain them.
Full article courtesy of Religion Leads to More Divorce, Study Finds.
