{"id":3654,"date":"2016-01-18T14:32:56","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T09:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indiauncut.com\/?p=3954"},"modified":"2016-01-18T14:32:56","modified_gmt":"2016-01-18T09:02:56","slug":"rising-divorce-rates-are-a-feature-not-a-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiauncut.com\/rising-divorce-rates-are-a-feature-not-a-bug\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Divorce Rates are a Feature, Not a Bug"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Times of India<\/i> has an intriguing headline up today: ‘Marriages last the longest in north India, Maharashtra; least in NE.’<\/a><\/p>\n At first glance, you might think that is good news for North India. It is not. In my view, it shows how socially backward the North still is.<\/p>\n A few years ago, I’d written a column called We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates<\/a> In it, I’d expressed the opinion that divorce rates were “the single best statistical indicator we have of the empowerment of women.” If I may quote myself:<\/p>\n Rising divorce rates tell us one thing for sure: that more and more women are finding the means, and the independence, to walk out of bad marriages and live life on their own terms. If we judge ourselves as a society on the state of our women – and surely that must be a parameter – then this is good news.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So the ToI<\/i> report seems to indicate that women are more empowered in the North-East than and North India. I’d love to see if data backs this up. What statistical indicators can stand as a proxy for women’s welfare? Do they show a geographical correlation with divorce rates? These are good questions to ask, though I don’t think ToI<\/i> will do a follow-up report on this anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Times of India<\/i> has an intriguing headline up today: ‘Marriages last the longest in north India, Maharashtra; least in NE.’<\/a><\/p>\n At first glance, you might think that is good news for North India. It is not. In my view, it shows how socially backward the North still is.<\/p>\n\n