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(士气). 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(无法弥补地)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. 【題組】57.
In the initial stage, the current economic crisis is likely to __________.
(A)tear many troubled families apart
(B)contribute to enduring family ties
(C)bring about a drop in the divorce rate
(D)cause a lot of conflicts in the family
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