“Poverty used to be a shared struggle that strengthened marital bonds. Today, economic hardship is often interpreted as personal failure and becomes a major trigger for divorce.”
This observation was delivered by Dr. Dri Santoso, M.H., an expert in Islamic Family Law, during a public discussion hosted by Nuban Institute on Friday evening, 23 January 2026. The event took place at Nuban Institute, Batanghari Street No. 38, East Lampung, and ran from 8:00 p.m. until late.
The discussion, titled “Why did marriages endure poverty in the past, while today economic issues have become a primary cause of divorce?”, brought together academics, students, social activists, and members of the wider community. The forum provided an open space for reflection on how social change, legal frameworks, and cultural expectations shape contemporary family life.
In his presentation, Dr. Santoso argued that rising divorce rates cannot be explained solely by economic variables. Instead, they must be understood within a broader transformation of values and social structures that redefine how marriage itself is perceived.
He identified two major groups of contributing factors: internal factors and external influences.
Internal factors include educational background, emotional maturity, and religious understanding—particularly how couples interpret the meaning of marriage, responsibility, and conflict. According to Dr. Santoso, marriage requires more than financial readiness; it demands moral commitment and psychological resilience.
“When marriage is reduced to a vehicle for comfort and stability alone, economic disruption easily becomes a justification for separation,” he explained. “Earlier generations tended to view marriage as a lifelong commitment, even in conditions of severe material limitation.”
External influences, he continued, stem largely from social media, popular culture, and the expanding comparison culture of the digital age. These forces construct new expectations about success, happiness, and ideal marital life—expectations that are often detached from social reality.
“Social media functions as a curated showcase of idealized lives,” Dr. Santoso noted. “Constant comparison breeds dissatisfaction, particularly when real economic conditions fail to match these images.”
The discussion also addressed broader structural changes, including the weakening of extended family support systems and the rise of individualism. In this context, marital challenges are no longer buffered by collective networks but are increasingly faced in isolation.
Ahmad Muzakki, Chair of Nuban Institute, emphasized the importance of such discussions in fostering critical public awareness. He stressed that family breakdown should not be approached through legal judgment alone, nor framed in simplistic moral terms.
“Family issues are deeply social in nature,” Muzakki said. “They reflect shifting values, changing patterns of relationships, and evolving understandings of marriage itself. Academic discussions like this help us move beyond blame and toward a more comprehensive and humane understanding.”
He added that Nuban Institute remains committed to providing intellectual forums that connect legal scholarship with lived social realities, particularly in areas where law, religion, and social change intersect.
Through this discussion, Nuban Institute hopes to encourage a more nuanced public conversation on marriage and divorce—one that recognizes economic pressures while also addressing the deeper cultural and ethical transformations shaping family life in contemporary society.