Divorce and broken families have never been easy topics of discussion, especially in public forums, yet they are the underbelly of our society which we often find uncomfortable to debate upon.
The past few decades has seen a paradigm shift in the family dynamics, divorce rates have gone up, single parents have become an acceptable norm, broken families is not something looked down upon.
The interesting part is, many homes and families have complicated relationships and living arrangements, but then it is generally a hush hush affair and/or something to be handled behind the curtains.
The larger point of debate is not about regrets of getting married or the good and bad points of marriage, the question is, what is the impact of Divorce on Older People?
Divorce has multiple implications on the overall well-being of Senior Citizens, be it financial, emotional, health, social etc, each element has a direct impact on a senior’s life.
The attached article “The impact of divorce on the elderly in India”, by Ms.Kumari Shalini, a fourth-year student of Lloyd Law College on the website of Aishwarya Sandeep, an Advocate, is a great read and interesting research.
As per her article, two interesting points stood out:
1) While a decreasing proportion of adults are choosing to age alone, at the same time, an increasing number are getting divorced, getting married again, entering into romantic relationships outside of marriage, or choosing to remain single.
2) Another interesting point is, The Function of Parent-Child Disconnection of adult children.
When parent’s divorce, adult children respond in different ways, while some people are angry about their parents divorcing after a lengthy marriage, others are understanding or supportive of
their parents’ divorce.
Adult children may be unhappy about their parents’ split or want to spend less time with them so they won’t have to deal with their parents’ arguments. This decreased parent-child interaction occurs at a time when parents may be most in need of adult children’s support and guidance as they work through a divorce.
In my opinion, “Silver Divorce” may be on the rise but then, there are enough couples who stick around with their unhappy marriages only for the sake of their children, but then, the question is, is it better to call it quits and live happier lives separately or live under one roof yet be miserable “day in day out”?
Pankaj Mehrotra
or the website at : https://aishwaryasandeep.in/the-impact-of-divorce-on-the-elderly-in-india/#:~:text=Emotional%20Toll,care%20they%20traditionally%20depended%20on.