In times of economic crisis, Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our skyhigh divorce rate. But this won’t necessarily represent an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same.
We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses. By 1932, when nearly one-quarter of the workforce was unemployed, the divorce rate had declined by around 25% from 1929. But this doesn’t mean people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes decreasing and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn’t afford to divorce. They feared neither spouse could manage alone.
Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk starting separate households. Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.
After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities. A 1940 book “The Unemployed Man and His Family”, described a family in which the husband initially reacted to losing his job “with tireless search for work.” He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do.
The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain. Across the country, many similar families were unable to maintain the initial boost in morale(士氣). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually overwhelmed their attempts to keep their families together. The divorce rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold.
Millions of American families may now be in the initial stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment.
Today’s economic crisis could well generate a similar number of couples whose relationships have been irreparably(無(wú)法彌補(bǔ)地)ruined. So it’s only when the economy is healthy again that we’ll begin to see just how many broken families have been created.
小題1:In the initial stage, the current economic crisis is likely to __________.
| A．tear many troubled families apart |
| B．bring about a drop in the divorce rate |
| C．contribute to enduring family ties |
| D．cause a lot of conflicts in the family |
小題2:In the Great Depression many unhappy couples chose to stick together because_______.
| A．starting a new family would be hard |
| B．they expected things would turn better |
| C．they wanted to better protect their kids |
| D．living separately would be too costly |
小題3:In addition to job losses. What stands in the way of unhappy couples getting a divorce?
| A．Mounting family debts |
| B．A sense of insecurity |
| C．Falling housing prices |
| D．Difficulty in getting a loan |
小題4:What will the current economic crisis eventually do to some married couples?
| A．It will irreparably damage their relationship |
| B．It will undermine their mutual understanding |
| C．It will help strengthen their emotional bonds |
| D．It will force them to pull their efforts together |
小題5:What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
| A．The economic recovery will see a higher divorce rate |
| B．Few couples can stand the test of economic hardships |
| C．A stable family is the best protection against poverty. |
| D．Money is the foundation of many a happy marriage |
