MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE: THE STATISTICS

Learn what the 2003 data reveals about who is getting married, when they"er getting married, and who is most likely to divorce:

• The average age of a women getting married in the United States is 27. *Bride"s Magazine

• The average age of a man getting married in the United States is 29. * Bride"s Magazine

• 88 percent of American men and women between the ages of 20 and 29 believe that they have a soul mate who is waiting for them. *University Wire, Louisiana State University

• 59 percent of marriages for women under the age of 18 end in divorce within 15 years. The divorce rate drops to 36 percent for those married at age 20 or older. ** Cohabitation marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the United States. *M. D. Bramiett and W. D. Mosher

• 60 percent of marriages for couples between the ages of 20 and 25 end of divorce. * National Center for Health statistics

•  50 percent of all marriages in which the brides are 25 or older result in a failed marriage. * National Center for Health statistics

• 65 percent of akter bound men and women live together before getting married. * Bride"s Magazine

• Research indicates that people who live together prior to getting married are more likely to have marriages that end in divorce. * The Boston Herald

• A recent study on cohabitation concluded that after five to seven years, only 21 percent of unmarried couples were still living together. * The Boston Herald

• 66 percent cohabitation couples get married within five years of moving in together. Forty percent of couples who live together break up  within that same time period. * Annual Review of Sociology

• Children of divorce have a higher risk of divorce when they marry, and an even higher risk if the person they marry comes from a divorced home. One study found that when the wife alone had experienced a parental divorce, her odds of divorce increased to 59 percent. When both spouses experienced parental divorce, the odds of divorce nearly tripled to 189 percent. * Journal of Marriage and the Family

• The likelihood that a women will eventually marry is  significantly lower for those who first had a child out of wedlock. By age 35, only 70 percent of all unwed mothers are married in contrast to 88 percent of women who have not had a child out of wedlock. "Finding a Mate? The Marital and Cohabitation Histories of Unwed Mothers, "Lawrence L. Wu and Barbara Wolfe

 

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DIVORCE AND STATISTICS

Divorce amongst the elderly

According to a New York Times article, "More Americans Rejecting Marriage in 50s and Beyond". in the past 20 years, the divorce rate has increased over 50% amongst the baby boomers. More and more adults are staying single and according to an analysis of census data conducted at bowling green state university at ohio,they stay the divorce numbers will continue to rise. Baby boomers that remain unmarried are five times more likely to live in poverty compared to those who are married. According to the statistics, they will also three times as likely to receive food stamps, public assistance or disability payments.

Sociologists believe that the rise in the number of older Americans who are not married is a result of factors such as longevity and economics. Women, especially, are becoming more and more financial independent which allows them to feel more secure with being along. In previous generations, being divorce or single was seen differently now. This has resulted in less pressure for baby boomers to marry or stay married.

Statistics:

Further information:

ASIA

In Japan, divorce were on a generally upward trend from the 1960s until 2002 when they hit a peak of 290,000. Since then both the number of divorces and the divorce rate have declined for six years straight. In 2010, the number of divorces totaled 251,000, and the divorce rate was 1.99 (per 1.000 population).

EUROPE

One study estimated that legal reforms accounted for about 20% of the increase in divorce rates in Europe between 1960 and 2002.

NORTH AMERICA

United States:

On average, first marriages that end in divorce last about eight years. Of the first marriages for women from 1955 to 1959, about 79% marked their 15th anniversary, compared with only 57% for women who married for the first time from 1985 to 1989. The median time between divorce and a second marriage was about three and a half years.

In 2009, the divorce rate declined,

A 19995 study found a wide range of factors correlating with the divorce rate including frequency of sex, wealth, race, and religious commitment.

In  2001, marriages between people of different faiths were three times more likely to be divorced then those of the same faith. In a 1993 study, members of two mainline protestant religions had a 20% chance of being divorced in 5 years; a catholic and an Evangelical, a 33% chance; a Jew and a Christian, a 40% chance.

A study by the Barna group, that conducts polls of interest to Christians, reports that a higher divorce rate was associated with infrequent church attendance.

Success in marriage has been associated with higher education and higher age, 80% of college graduates, over 26 years of age, who wed in the 1980s, were still married 20 years later, 65% of college graduates under 26, who married in the 1980s, were still married 20 years later, 49% of high school graduates under 26 years old, who married in the 1980s, were still married 20 years later. 2.9% of adults age 35-39 without a college decree divorced in the year 2009, compared with 1.6% with a college education.

A population study found that in 2004 and 2008, liberal-voting states have lower rates of divorce than conservative-voting states, possibly because people in liberal states tend to wait longer before getting married. An analysis of this study found it to be misleading due to sampling at an aggregate level. It revealed that when sampling the same data by individuals.

Republic learning voters are less likely to have a divorce or extramarital affair than Democrat leaning voters nd independents.

A 2011 study found a 1% increase in the unemployment rate correlated with a 1% decrease in the divorce rate, presumably because more people were financially challenged to afford the legal proceedings.

OCEANIA

In Australia, nearly every third marriage ends in divorce. After reaching a peak divorce rate of 2.7 per 1000 residents in 2001, the Australian rate declined to 2.3 per 1000 in 2007.

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