1920s: In 1925, 175,000 divorces take place— 1.5 per 1,000 total population. Obtaining a divorce when both parties do not agree to it is usually a difficult proposition. Most state courts only grant a divorce under fault grounds, such as adultery, alcoholism, desertion, or mental or physical cruelty. A person seeking a divorce on a fault ground must prove that the spouse committed the fault. A spouse also may contest the divorce. Thus, if a man wants a divorce in order to marry another women, firstly, he might have no grounds under which to get the divorce, and secondly, his wife might contest it.

1990s: In 1990 there were 1,182,000 divorces among the American population—4.7 per 1,000 total population. If this trend continues, younger Americans marrying for the first time have a 40 to 50 percent chance of divorcing in their lifetime. By the mid-1990s, around 18 million Americans have experienced...