China’s divorce rate increases, only 1/2 of America’s

The idea that cultures and societies stay the same is put again to rest by this little piece of news about the increase of the divorce rate in China.

WP: Barriers to divorce fade in China – washingtonpost.com Highlights – MSNBC.com
Although it remains lower than in many developed countries, the divorce rate in China has skyrocketed in recent decades. It more than doubled from 1985 to 1995, as the country opened to Western ideas, and by 2005, the rate had more than tripled, to 1.37 couples out of every 1,000 people, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In cities such as fast-paced Shanghai, the divorce rate is now seven or eight times the rate in 1980, Xu said.

The U.S. divorce rate, by comparison, was 3.7 couples per 1,000 people in 2004. By some estimates, half of all new marriages in the United States will end in divorce.