Dating Your Way To Divorce

We know the Internet is good at bringing people together. Now, new reports suggest that it may also be good at tearing people apart. As the popularity of online dating grows, the divorce rate is also on the rise.

Studies charting the rise of divorce over the past 30 years reveal that the UK now has the highest divorce rate in all of the European Union (nearly 20 people in every 1000 divorce each year). Even Denmark, which has historically had the lowest divorce rate in the EU, has seen a marked increase.

Could online dating be a partial culprit?

As the Net spread in the 90s, the first dating sites were born and more and more people turned to the Web to find love. Now there are nearly a billion online daters in the US and Europe, and divorce is more common than ever. With one notable exception: amongst religious communities, the divorce rate is lower than in non-religious communities.

A study of religious groups shows that the rate of divorce amongst Christian communities is, on average, 53% less than amongst the non-religious. Another report says that while stats like these can't determine a clear reason for divorce, the numbers could support the argument that religious marriage is considered more important than civil marriage.

Why might that be? Experts have several theories:

• In this day and age, it's much easier to disconnect from someone if a relationship isn't working and remain confident that there are plenty of other options waiting online.
• People's interest in long-term relationships may have eroded now that they are faced with so many options for romantic relationships. Why settle down when you can date without serious commitment?
• Successful relationships are most likely to occur when a couple shares beliefs that transcend civil beliefs. There is also greater social pressure in religious communities to make marriages work.

Is this enough info to say definitively that online dating has increased divorce? Definitely not. There could be a correlation, but it isn't enough to prove causation. Still, it's interesting to look at the stats:

• 20% of current committed relationship began online.
• 17% of marriages in the last year began on an online dating site.
• 80% of current committed relationships began offline.
• 84% of marriages in the last year began because the couple met in a bar, through social connections, or during some other activity.

Food for thought.