How Divorce Affects Kids and Society

1. Feelings of Kids:

   • Kids with divorced parents are more likely to feel sad or upset. In fact, they have a 50% higher chance of having these emotional problems compared to kids whose parents are together.
   • About 20% of kids from divorced families may struggle with these feelings for a long time.

2. School Performance:

   • Research shows that kids whose parents are divorced generally do not do as well in school. On average, they score lower than their classmates by about 0.3 standard deviations.

3. Behavioral Issues:

   • Many kids from divorced families may act out or have trouble behaving. Around 25% of these kids show some kind of behavior problems.

4. Costs to Society:

   • Divorce doesn’t just affect families. It also has a big impact on society. For example, in Sweden, divorce costs the government around $7 billion every year because more people need help from welfare.

In summary, divorce has strong effects on kids’ feelings and behavior, and it also creates challenges for society as a whole.