Declines in divorce rates are real
Bottom Line: In a recent study I covered, in a story about life decisions we’re happiest with having made, I was pleasantly surprised that 77% of married couples were happy they were married. That’d suggest future divorce rates that’d been much lower than in the past. We’ve already made a lot of progress over the past decade. Here are a couple of highlights...
- Overall divorce rates have declined by 18% over the past decade
- The overall divorce rate is only 21% currently
- The highest divorce rate is 27% among any generation
You might have heard in recent months about a study showing that marriage rates are lower for Millennials than prior generations, and that’s true, but we’re also seeing much lower divorce rates at similar ages from prior generations as well. Meaning, that while Millennials are waiting longer to get married, when they do, they’re more likely to stay married.
The average age of marriage today is 28. In 1990 it was 24 and in 1970 it was 21. The top cause of divorce is financial. With couples being more financially established at the time of marriage it’s placing less stress on a young marriage. The additional maturity probably doesn’t hurt either. That’s encouraging for everyone but divorce attorneys.