Parental divorce is key factor in break-ups amongst their children

This may sound obvious to some, but a new study suggests that the rate of relational and marital breakup was higher amongst those whose parents had divorced.

The study looked at other factors, such as genetics or parental substance abuse, but found that divorce itself was a key factor that lead to the higher rate in children.

Brian D’Onofrio, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington, said that when a host of variables are taken into consideration, such as genetic risks and socioeconomic factors, the real divorce still accounts for around 66 percent of the increased risk of divorce faced by children of divorced parents. “This means the transmission is not due to psychological or substance abuse problems that are passed from parents to the offspring. It’s something very unique about the separation of one’s parents. The societal implications are very important because divorce is such a painful experience for both adults and children. This further suggests that interventions specifically targeted at the consequences of divorce are important for our society,” D’Onofrio said.

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More British grandparents caring for grandchildren than ever before, research suggests

New research from Metanium suggests that British grandparents are more involved than ever with the care of their grandchildren.

Some five million grandparents now spend three days per week caring for their grandchildren.

Childcare is major source of concern for working parents. Cost is a key factor, but trust is even more important – and an increasing number of mums and dads are solving the problem by keeping it in the family and turning to their own parents for help

Statistics show that the percentage of children receiving care from their grandparents is on its way to being tripled from 33% in the 1930s to 82% today.

Unlike the grandparents of the 1930s, today’s grandparents have sophisticated toys, gadgets and electronic devices to help in their childcare role. In spite of that, good old fashioned cuddles, walks and snuggling up with a book are still favourite activities.

Ancestry.com members have created over 1 million family trees in last 6 months

OK it’s a blatant plug for Ancestry.com (with which I have no affiliation) but their latest news is that in the past six months, over 1 million people have created family trees using their online service.

Their press release states: “In building family trees, users have added an estimated 150 million names, uploaded 400,000 photos and attached 10 million family history documents directly from Ancestry.com’s 23,000 historical records collections.”

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One in five UK couples on verge of break-up, survey shows

Research by the InsideDivorce.com web site suggests that 1 in 5 British couples are on the verge of a break-up.

Nearly half (44%) of married people surveyed say that their sex lives have decreased while a further one in ten married couples are having no sex at all. These figures are particularly worrying for men, with ‘lack of sex’ being cited as the single biggest factor in relationship breakdown.

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