When Leadership Fails
In 2021, a total of 689,308 divorces occurred across the U.S. Additionally, 40% of new marriages include a partner who is remarrying. [7]
DIVORCE
According to the United States’ National Center for Health Statistics, about 4-5 million people get married every year in the U.S., and approximately 42-53% of those marriages eventually end in divorce. [9]
According to the CDC Leading Causes of Death Reports for 2020, suicide was the 2nd leading cause of death ages 10-34. The same year, there were nearly two times as many suicides (45,979) in the United States as there were homicides (24,576). [10]
DEPRESSION
Research shows that about 50% of individuals with a diagnosed mental illness will also struggle with substance abuse at some point in their lives, and vice versa. [8]
The co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and depression is high (63-68% of people with alcohol-dependent persons are experiencing major depression). [11]
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Nearly 1 in 3 adults had either a substance use disorder or any mental illness in the past year, and 46 percent of young adults 18-25 had either a substance use disorder or any mental illness. [12]
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
—PROVERBS 29:18
How It Affects Your Children
There is a definite correlation between problems at home (i.e. instability, lack of support, single-parenting) and problems at school (i.e. suspension rates, academic performance, dropout rates, and mental health issues). While family relationships are complex, there are various factors that can contribute to outcomes at school:
Long-Term Consequences
Evidence from countries across the world has shown that, “on average, children who experience a family disruption fare poorly across a wide range of adolescent and adult outcomes, including educational attainment, economic security, and physical and psychological well-being.” [3]
FROM SUSPENSION TO INCARCERATION
“The researchers found that 12 years after having been suspended, students were more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system. More specifically, suspended students were 30% more likely to have been arrested once, 51% more likely to have been arrested two or more times, 49% more likely to be on probation, and 23% more likely to be in prison than non-suspended students. Suspended students were 6% less likely to have finished high school and 24% less likely to have earned a BA. Black students were suspended at higher rates than white and Latinx students.” [4]
GENERATIONAL CYCLES
One study “compared children under age 18 with similar socioeconomic characteristics and family backgrounds and found that having a parent in prison or jail was linked to a greater incidence of a variety of conditions, including poor health; attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD); behavioral or conduct problems; learning disabilities; anxiety; and developmental delays. In particular, children with an incarcerated parent were more than three times more likely to have behavioral problems or depression than similar children without an imprisoned parent, and at least twice as likely to suffer from learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and anxiety.” [5]
SOURCES
[1] Wlodarczyk O., Schwarze M., Rumpf H.-J., Metzner F., Pawils S. Protective mental health factors in children of parents with alcohol and drug use disorders: A systematic review. PLoS ONE. 2017;12:e0179140.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0179140.
[2] Zill, N. (2015, October 29). How family transitions affect students’ achievement. IFS.
https://ifstudies.org/blog/how-family-transitions-affect-students-achievement
[3] Steele, F., Sigle-Rushton, W., & Kravdal, Ø. (2009). Consequences of family disruption on children’s educational outcomes in Norway. Demography, 46(3), 553–574.
https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0063
[4] Alexander, E. (2021, January 6). From school to prison. Public Health Post.
https://www.publichealthpost.org/research/from-school-to-prison/
[5] Scommegna, P. (2014, December 3). Parents’ imprisonment linked to children’s health, behavioral problems. Population Reference Bureau.
https://www.prb.org/resources/parents-imprisonment-linked-to-childrens-health-behavioral-problems/
[6] Wright, K. N., & Wright, K. E. (1993, January 15). Family Life and Delinquency and Crime: A Policymaker’s Guide to the Literature. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/140517NCJRS.pdf
[7] Bieber, C. (2023, August 8). Revealing divorce statistics in 2024. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/divorce/divorce-statistics/
[8] Carberg, C. (2023, June 14). USA Addiction statistics. AddictionHelp.com.
https://www.addictionhelp.com/addiction/statistics/
[9] Divorce rates by country 2024. (n.d.).
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/divorce-rates-by-country
[10] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, May). Suicide. National Institute of Mental Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide
[11] Kuria, M. W., et al. (2012, January 26). The association between alcohol dependence and depression before and after treatment for alcohol dependence. ISRN psychiatry.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658562/
[12] HHS Press Office. (2023, January 4). Samhsa announces National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) results detailing mental illness and substance use levels in 2021. HHS.gov.
