The decision between a husband and wife to end their marriage due to irreconcilable differences has become a problem of epidemic proportions around the world today. Divorce affects people of all ages, from the oldest to the youngest, tearing families apart. While the divorce of husband and wife ends what many of them once thought was the best thing that could happen to them, it is their children who suffer the most serious consequences. Children who were once cared for by both parents must adjust to living with one parent or moving back and forth between them, as well as many other adjustments. The effects of divorce are not limited to just practical adjustments, but research also indicates that children who experience their parents' divorce also experience physical and psychological problems. According to recent research, if current divorce rates remain stable, one in four children will experience parental divorce before the age of sixteen (Doweling and Gorell-Barnes, 1999). Another statistic shows that between 1972 and 1997, more than a million young children were involved in divorce each year (Zinsmeister, 1997). It is imperative, in our society where divorce is so prevalent, that we understand, through research and observation, the effects of divorce on children. The effects of divorce on children have been a subject of great controversy among professionals and parents. The research is inconclusive in many areas, but enough evidence has been gathered to conclude that divorce does indeed have an impact on children. The effects of divorce, the extent of the impact on a child and the duration of the impact of divorce, depend largely on the age of the child at the time of his or her estrangement. paper ...... what a child may experience after a family breakdown (Jost and Robinson, 1991). Although the research presented here has focused on the negative effects of divorce on children, there are cases where children experience virtually no adverse effects from divorce. This is usually the case when the child's parents are in abusive relationships or when they are able to maintain healthy relationships with both parents. Unfortunately, this is the exception and not the rule for children facing divorce. Despite the fact that there are many different opinions regarding the effects of divorce on children, the majority of researchers agree that having married parents provides many benefits to children. These include, but are not limited to, a higher standard of living, exposure to effective parenting, less stress in general, and greater chances of succeeding in school (McGuiness, 2006).