Divorce Rate

There's an article about the 'alarming' divorce rate in the UAE on the National's front page today.

While there appears to be no nationwide information, figures released in the emirate of Sharjah (just east of Dubai) now indicate that about every third marriage (34%) ended in divorse in 2008 there - up from 26% in 2001.

Someone from Europe might wonder: So what!? In Germany, the divorce rate (number of divorces in relation to marriages) was about 50.1% in 2007. In England and Wales, that figure for the same year is even 55.5% (with people there, by the way, being on average older than in Germany when they marry).

I'm not sure about why this is a cause of concern - though there may be a few indications in tradition and region. Sharjah is considered to be one of the more conservative emirates in the UAE. And in traditional culture, marriage is considered to be the most important event in people's lifes. If you speak to locals - be it in the UAE, or also in Bahrain, people will be very surprised to hear that you're not married at a certain age (by the way, if you are married and have no children, it may well happen that people will pity you and even propose to take another women, who might be more able to bear a child).

According to what I saw at the Bahrian National Museum, marriage is a central part of traditional societies, which is also reflected in the elaborate and lengthy traditional ceremonies and celebrations around marriages - it creates the framework for raising children, security for the women, is the nucleus of family life - and a strong bond between families, particularly in earlier times more often than not with clear economic and political intentions. Traditionally, as I understood that, marriage is a societal institution and one of its main pillars. And a divorce represents a failure of this institution.

So this may be a rough layman's idea of why divorce could be seen as something critical and therefore why the figure mentioned in the article is perceived as very high. In Western cultures, in contrast, we emphasize the individual and personal development much more, so different styles of life are accepted - including choosing to end a marriage. Again, as I said in earlier posts, I don't want to judge as to what is better or not here.

It's a pity it doesn't say in the report what the reasons behind this rising figure is, though. What are the drivers behind that development?

Is it because couples give up when they encounter problems with each other, as maybe it becomes socially more accepted to end a marriage? I can only speculate. Maybe some see something like this as a reason.

One of the steps the authorities now have pledged to take is to recruit more marriage counsellors.