• 03
  • June
    2011

It turns out that divorce makes math (and normal development of social skills) more difficult for children whose parents go through divorce. But it isn't until the child's parents actually start divorce proceedings that math and social skills start to dip, according to a study done by University of Wisconsin-Madison's Hyun Sik Kim.

As Bernd Debusmann of Reuters reports, Kim said, "My original prediction was that children of divorce would experience negative impacts even before formal divorce processes began. But my study finds that this is not the case."

Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology and published his study in the American Sociological Review. The study tracked 3,585 children. Starting at kindergarten and ending at the fifth grade, Kim looked at progress in math and social skills for children in stable families and compared that to those children whose parents went through divorce.

As it happens, math skills were hit hardest. Kim said, "Reading is not that cumulative. But with math, you must understand previous things to develop. For example, if I do not understand that one plus one is two, then I cannot understand multiplication."

Kim goes on to list several factors that may impact a child's development (which look familiar to New York divorce lawyers like us):

  • Parents who are arguing
  • Living arrangements that have become suddenly uncertain
  • Having to share time with Mom and Dad
  • Going from a two-person income to a one-person income, or similar change in financial circumstances and lifestyle

When it comes to divorce, Kim's study certainly points toward one thing: that divorce is not easy on kids - especially once formal proceedings begin - so it makes sense to keep the child's best interests in mind throughout the process.

Source: Reuters, "Children of divorce score worse in math, social skills," by Bernd Debusmann, Jr., 06/02/11