“But in the real world, you couldn't really divide a family in two, mom on one side, dad on the other, with the child divided equally between the two. . It was like tearing a piece of paper in half: no matter how hard you tried, the seams never fit perfectly again. It was what couldn't be seen, those smaller pieces that were lost in the separation, and their absence prevented everything from being complete. (Dessen, S., 2011). Divorce is an event that happens daily here in the United States and has affected over a million American children. Divorce occurs when a family unit is legally separated and can often become a very traumatic event for everyone involved, most often the children. Studies have shown that divorce has become more common than in the past (Children-and-Divorce, 2013). According to Robert Hughes (2009), two factors in particular have an influence on the increase in divorce rates in the United States. The first factor is that men and women rely less on each other for economic survival, focusing primarily on financial survival. As women advance in the workforce, they can often qualify for their own medical and retirement benefits, allowing them to be less dependent on the male head of the household. Women who are successfully employed and self-sufficient may be more willing to divorce because they are not perceived as financially dependent wives. Financial stability allows the female head of household to feel more secure when she feels the need to escape a broken marriage. Second, the impact of birth control on “childlessness by choice” allows couples to divorce without worrying about the emotional stress the child experiences. Couples without children may have...... middle of paper ......worry about children. While divorce was once a rare event and one who was divorcing was attached to a negative stereotype, it has now become as common as a rainy day. Over the past few decades, more than 1 million divorces have occurred each year in the United States (Children-and-Divorce, 2013). When children divorce, they fear the loss of one parent, but in some cases the child may also fear the loss of both parents. Children prefer to move in with another family member rather than stay with their parents because the stress of divorce can be overwhelming (Parker, 2010). Parents must always reassure their child, never leave them unsupervised or alone. Dealing with divorce is difficult. Parents and family members should all be aware of these issues and do everything they can to help their children through this difficult and trying time..