The Brutally Honest Look at How Kids Affect Marriage
The impact kids have on marital happiness can be a taboo topic. Even though most people realize that raising children requires sacrifice, couples rarely talk openly about the stress children place on their relationship. Unfortunately, this lack of communication causes the problem to become worse. Looking at the effect kids have on marriage through a brutally honest lens can help improve your situation, allowing you to identify issues and address them appropriately.
Peak Marital Happiness
For the most part, when couples first tie the knot is when a marriage tends to be happiest. Research shows a trend of declining satisfaction throughout the first few years, which can lead to a quick dissolution of a marriage if the drop in marital bliss is severe.
While somewhat nihilistic-sounding, the brutal truth behind the research is that marital happiness tends to slide downward over time. That’s not to say all longstanding marriages are unhappy. If anything, these studies show marriages generally tend to have their ups and downs, requiring most couples to work through tough times in order to sustain their relationship.
Children Challenge Marriages
The biggest challenge that any married couple will take on is having a child. In fact, studies show that marital satisfaction declines twice as severely for couples with children. When couples have a child whom was not initially part of their plan, the rate of happiness tends to decline even more significantly.
In spite of this troubling data, the rate of divorce declines overall when children are involved, proving that parents do in fact stay together for their kids.
Work To Heal Family Relationships
One significant reason to be aware of trends like these is that so much of life’s satisfaction comes from happiness with one’s spouse. People who are happy with their partners are happier with their lives in general. The ability to predict upcoming challenges will make it easier to navigate through difficult times in your relationship, whether or not you have kids.
Colgan & Associates, LLC is a trusted law firm that focuses on family law, traffic matters and criminal defense. We represent clients throughout Pennsylvania. We have offices located in Harrisburg, York and Dillsburg, PA.
Click here to contact us with any questions you have about divorce, or fill out the form on the right to arrange a free phone consultation.
My wife has 4 adult children and she talks to them every day of the week,mornings and late at nite….real problem