Compare & Contrast: Usa & Iraq

Iraq is a great country to compare and contrast with the United States of America. After doing some research I found that there are some similarities between these two culture’s families but there are even more differences.

I will first share some of the similarities between these two countries. In urban settings of Iraq you get to chose who you want to marry as long as you receive parental permission. This is much like the United States. Here in America you get to date whoever you like no matter race, religion, etc., and it is good to get the father’s or mother’s permission before you ask their daughter to marry you, although this is not mandatory. In Iraq you can marry outside of your religious group although it isn’t that common, same goes for the United States. Also both of these nations follow the monogamy form of marriage. Like the U.S.A. divorce is accepted in Iraq but it does have a little twist that I will tell you about in the differences section. Also in Iraq it is most common to live as an extended family, but it is not unusual to see a nuclear family every now and then. In America we also have both extended families and nuclear families.

The differences between these two different nations are as follows; In Iraq it is much more common for people to get married at a younger age then here in the United States. Citizens of Iraq will usually get married in their late teens and early twenties, while here in the States civilians are now getting married as late as their thirties. After an Iraqi couple is married it is up to the husband to decide if there is going to be a divorce or not. If the husband isn’t happy anymore then he may decide that he doesn’t want to be with his wife anymore and she must agree to it. Here is America either spouse can request a divorce. Also in Iraq they have children much earlier then we do here due to reasons such as; fewer forms of birth control, religion, and the kids could eventually work for them. The Iraqi families also have more children then the families of the United States. Seeing a single parent family in Iraq is unusual because in case of a divorce they would usually just move in with their extended families if they weren’t their already. Here in the United States there are a lot of single families out there raising children, actually 33% of families are single parent