One reason why the split between Al and Tipper Gore was surprising was because it ran against many marriage trends in America. Despite the tabloid travails of the rich and famous, the overall divorce rate has fallen since the 1980s.
The divorce rate among the wealthiest and most educated Americans, a group that includes the Gores, is half what it is among those without college educations.
But nothing is ever as
it seems from the outside, as the Gores reminded us.
Despite the inevitable and often incredulous comparisons that have been made between the breakup of the Gore union and the endurance of Bill and Hillary Clinton's, one expert on marriage suggests that the Clintons may typify enduring marriages more than we think.
"In retrospect, the Clintons in some ways have a more traditional marriage," said W. Bradford Wilcox, a University of Virginia sociology professor and director of the National Marriage Project.
While the Gores "were unable to maintain that soul mate model at this point in life," he said, the Clintons "appear to appreciate that marriage is more than about emotions. The Clintons view marriage as many different things, with an economic dimension, a power dimension."
The Gores' split allows us to point out that even in the midst of a Great Recession, -- perhaps because of it -- the divorce rate has continued to fall. In tough times, some seek and find fresh comfort in their spouses. Others may be waiting for the economy to turn before splitting.
No matter the reason, the National Marriage Project reported in December that the divorce rate fell from 17.3 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2005, to 16.9 in 2008.
Wilcox said the trend continued at least through May of last year, when the recession, statistically, was winding down.
"Divorce kind of hit the high-water mark in the United States around 1980," Wilcox said. "The Gores got married right in the midst of the divorce revolution."
That's why the news of their divorce was so widely viewed as "ironic and tragic," he said. Having made it through 40 years of a public partnership in what Wilcox called "one of the most tumultuous periods in American life," the Gores split.
In December's "State of Our Unions" report, Wilcox and associates reported that:
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SOURCE: USA Today
Chuck Raasch
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