In 2017 divorce rate in cities recorded 60.7 percent, while the percentages recorded at 39.3 percent in villages, according to Maysa Shawky, Deputy Minister of Health and the General Supervisor of the Councils of Population, and Childhood and Motherhood.
The data of the 2017 Egyptian census confirmed that the total number of divorced people reached 710.850, she said.
Divorce occurred in 200,000 cases, mostly in the age group between 25 and 30 years old.
She stressed in a statement on Monday that awareness must be raised on underage marriages, as to eliminate the phenomenon.
Cases of married children reached 122.464 in 2017, 4.522 of whom were under the age of 15 years old.
The number of widows was 1.203, and 1.189 cases were divorcees who lost their rights, showed Shawky.
The Egyptian Church requiring mandatory awareness courses for couples who are getting married, she said, as well as the Ministries of Endowments and Health, in an attempt to prepare newly married couples and strengthen family ties.
The causes of divorce are varied, including money troubles, social incompatibility between spouses, lack of responsibility, drug addiction, and the interference of family and friends in married couples’ life. These findings sometimes led to child exposure to violence, neglect and school dropouts.
Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
