In a society where marriages are less the union of two individuals and more about an economic alliance between two
families, divorce in instances of irretrievable breakdown of marriage is being grudgingly accepted. Over the past decade, divorce rates countrywide have zoomed from 1 per 1,000 to 13 per 1,000 marriages (2019). Several factors including meltdown of joint families, increase in number of nuclear households, social and financial emancipation of women, economic liberalisation, relaxation of divorce laws, among others, have prompted a multiplying number of couples to end oppressive and abusive marriages. In the process, the social stigma traditionally attached to divorce is weakening, at least in urban India.
In particular, over the past 15 months since the deadly Covid-19 pandemic invaded India in February 2020, divorces have spiralled. According to some estimates, there’s been a 20-30 percent increase in divorce cases filed in courts of law during the past year. Pressure cooker home environments generated by Covid-19 lockdowns are bringing out the worst in couples struggling to cope with the loss of personal freedoms, mobility, financial and health anxieties and prolonged social isolation. Cloistered in cramped homes 24×7, even seemingly compatible couples are heading for divorce courts.
While this social phenomenon may be liberating for estranged couples, the rising incidence of divorce is playing havoc with the emotional and mental wellbeing of children, with bitter child custody and support battles often scarring them for life. In our cover story of this month, we present the opinions of child rights activists, family counselors and mental health and emotional wellbeing professionals who suggest ways and means to ease the pain of divorce for children. The consensus of informed opinion is that when divorce becomes inevitable parents should take the aid and advice of lawyers and counselors to sort out mundane details such as custody, visitation rights, financial and living arrangements to ensure that children suffer minimal trauma and disruption. We strongly recommend our cover story for couples contemplating or heading for divorce courts. You owe it your innocent children who didn’t volunteer to be born.
I also highly recommend our Early Childhood advisory informing parents about time-tested home remedies to attend to infants suffering common cold symptoms and Middle Years section to enable children to cope with loss of loved ones during this unprecedented pandemic era. Other columns of interest are Bengaluru-based gynaecologist Dr. Vasanthi Venkatesh’s advice to parents confronted with menstruation troubles of girl children, and Ask Your Counselor, in which UK-based parenting expert Sue Atkins answers parents’ queries relating to pandemic anxieties of children.
