How many times have we heard the trope that the low divorce rate in Massachusetts shows something about neutering marriage there? It doesn't matter to people who trot this statistic out that the divorce rate in Massachusetts was low before marriage was neutered there. It similarly doesn't matter that "divorce rate" is a population statistic and that it wasn't the population there that neutered marriage. In fact, the population there was specifically blocked from voting on neutered marriage by its supporters. As we said before, the neutered marriagists didn't block that vote because they thought they were going to be handed a stunning victory.
One wonders why marriage neuterists cite divorce statistics instead of marriage statistics in the first place. When one realizes Massachusetts has among the lowest marriage rates in the nation, it becomes clear why they avoided that statistic. A good rule of thumb is to suspect misdirection whenever someone tries to substitute one statistic for another. In this case, that suspicion is exactly right.
[More below the fold...]Divorce rates are obviously a function of marriage rates. This has a significant effect in Massachusetts, but that is not the biggest effect. More significantly, divorce rates are a function of divorce laws.
Divorce laws are not constant between states and divorce rates are not a measure of marriage success in a given state. Rather, divorce rates measure where divorces are filed. States (like Massachusetts) that make divorce harder, particularly on non-residents, will have lower divorce rates. Nobody is going to go to a state with tough residency requirements and strict divorce laws specifically to obtain a divorce. One would expect individuals looking for easier divorce to file in a state with more lax divorce laws and low residency requirements like Nevada which, it turns out, has the highest divorce rate in the nation.
Op-ed
ReplyDeleteYes: the Mass example on divorce is a constant annoying and trite "proof" for the cultural left.
They never even try and assert a casuality between same-sex "marriage" and the lower divorce rate.
One very important factor is class. Mass is a very wealthy state and the more affluent have a different narrative arch to family formation than the less well to do.
Here are two VERY excellent reviews by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse on the subject you are talking about.
Red Families v. Blue Families
A book review by Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
http://www.ruthblog.org/2010/04/26/the-origins-of-the-red-state–blue-state-divide/
The Origins of the Red State–Blue State Divide
Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D.
http://www.familyinamerica.org/index.php?rid=10&cat_id=6
Perhaps you could add these links to bottom of your post...If not I could do a post concerning them in the future.
The callousness of our wealthy "educated" elites rears its head in these two reviews. The good doctor reveals how it is class pretentions and condecesion twoard the poor
Example: From the first review.
"But Cahn and Carbone turn a blind eye to all this, maintaining that abstinence education and parental notification for abortion are to blame for the problems of the underclass. If only they had more contraception and more abortions, these unfortunate people would postpone marriage, go to law school and be just like “us”.
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