Belgium: Sharp Rise In Divorces, 2 Out Of 3 Marriages Fail
By KUNA
Two in three marriages in Belgium that took place in 2009 will end up in divorce, according to figures released by Belgium’s General Statistics and Economic Information Office .
Of the 1,000 marriages concluded in 2009, 645 (or 64.5 percent, which equals two marriages in three) will end in divorce.
The figures show that more and more marriages in Belgium are ending up in a divorce.
In 1960, the divorce rate was 6.7 percent but this figure jumped in 2000 to 45.7 percent.
After new divorce regulations were announced in 1985 and 2008, the divorce rates rose sharply one year later.
The new regulations made divorce less complicated.
The Belgian media quoted Dimitri Mortelmans, a sociologist working at the University of Antwerp, as saying that divorce used to be a taboo, but that this view has changed today.
“The main cause is a change in human values. We think differently about marriage than 30 years ago ” opined Mortelmans.
