Every divorce is going to be different. However, divorce stats help shed some light on who tends to be getting divorced the most. Looking at the data can help better explain why certain groups will split more often than others…
Divorce Stats: Breaking Them Down
Rates for the remarried
One of the interesting divorce stats to look at are those for remarried couples. Around 42-45% of first marriages tend to end in divorce. Things begin to increase considerably with second marriages, which have a 60% divorce rate. Third marriages and onwards are even higher, with 73% of these marriages ending in divorce!
The reasons for these increased rates come down to a few factors. For starters, many people rush into these new marriages, which doesn’t give them a good foundation. They also tend to carry a lot of unresolved baggage from their previous marriage or marriages. This all comes together and adds a lot of stress and tension to the marriage, increasing the chances that it ends in divorce.
Young couples
Divorce stats also offer some insight into what age demographics are facing divorce most often. In particular, younger couples tend to have higher rates of divorce than those who are middle aged. 36.6% of married women and 38.8% of men ages 20-24 will get a divorce. Rates are somewhat lower for those ages 25-29, with 16.4% of women and 22.3% of men divorcing.
However, when compared to those ages 30-40, the discrepancies really begin to show. An average of just 6.8% of women and 9% of men in this age group will end up splitting. This is because younger couples tend to jump into married life too quickly, without knowing each other too well. Add in the fact that these couples are also more likely to face things such as economic stress, and it’s easy to see why they split more often.
Rise of gray divorces
While young couples might divorce quite often, divorce stats for older couples have also been on the rise. In fact, the divorce rate among couples ages 55-64 has quadrupled in the past 30 years. In 1990, just one in ten divorces involved couples in this age range. Now, as of 2010, it’s at a rate of one in four!
A big part of this is due to how divorce has lost its stigma over the years. 69% of older Americans viewed divorce as “morally acceptable” in 2014. By contrast, only 45% felt the same as of 2001. This has now allowed for older couples to divorce and not worry about those around them shunning them.
