Divorce in the Arab region: current levels, trends, and,features

ssaadani@aucegypt.du Somaya M. El-Saadani, American University in Cairo

An apparent fall in the level of divorce on the national level in almost all of the Arab countries under study, in contrast to the well spread feel that they are in the rise, takes place concurrently with noticeable movement toward more developed societies if compared to the situation in the not very distant past. On the individual level, the risk of marital disruption is associated with marriage at adolescence, low level of education, and living in urban centers. Inability to bear children is a strong threat to marital stability. Furthermore, most of marriage breakups take place within the first early years of marriage life. While we believe that all of the aspects of marital disruption that have been covered in the article are crucial, we make no claim that all have been sufficiently studied. It would be fruitful to use these results as a basis for conducting a more appropriate field works.