Divorce Facts

Check out these divorce facts to see if what you think you know about divorce is confirmed. There are many myths surrounding people legally ending their marriage, and it can be difficult to separate divorce facts from fiction.

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• Divorce Rates are Declining

According to Clivir.com, the number of people seeking a divorce has gone down over the past 30 years or so. In 2008, 37 percent fewer people filed for divorce than the previous year.

Even though rates are declining, marriages are still breaking up at an alarming rate. Somewhere between 40-50 percent of everyone who says "I do" will be saying "I don't" after the fact and filing for divorce.

• Age Makes a Difference when it Comes to Divorce

People who marry young are more likely to divorce. It's possible they drift apart after a few years or they simply weren't mature enough to deal with the ups and downs that come with married life after the excitement of the wedding has passed. People who are under the age of 25 are more likely to get divorced. The divorce rate for 18-year-olds is 59 percent within 15 years. By the time they reach their mid-thirties, the divorce rate drops to just over five percent for women and approximately six percent for men.

• Second and Third Marriages are More Likely to End in Divorce

The divorce rate for a second marriage is approximately 67 percent. For people who are in their third marriage, the divorce rate jumps to 74 percent.

• Living Together Before Marriage Increases Risk of Divorce

Currently, about two-thirds of couples live together before getting married. They may be doing so for convenience, or to give being married a trial run before making a formal commitment. At the seven-year mark, only about 21 percent of couples were still together. The reason for the high failure rate may be that couples who choose to cohabitate have more liberal attitudes about marriage and divorce.

• Children Whose Parents are Divorced are More Likely to Divorce

Divorce facts show that divorce has a long-term effect on children. When they grow up and marry, they are at a higher risk of divorce themselves. In a situation where both spouses have a family history of parents divorcing, their chance of being divorced jumps to a whopping 189 percent.

• Marriages are Most Likely to End in Divorce in Less Than Five Years

If a couple can stay together until their fifth anniversary, the likelihood they will divorce decreases. According to SmartMarriages.com, the median age of divorce for women between the ages of 25-29 was 3.4 years.

• The Average Age for Brides and Grooms in Arkansas and Oklahoma is Lowest in the U.S.

Approximately 50 percent of women getting married in these states are aged 24 or younger, according to the Pew Research Center. The divorce rate is higher in these states than in other parts of the country.

Men in New York and Massachusetts tend to marry later; in those states about half of men were 30 years of age or older when they married. The divorce rate in these states is lower than the national average.

• Marriage Rates are Decreasing in the United States

The number of people who are currently married in the U.S. is decreasing over time. Approximately 52 percent of men over the age of 15 and 48 percent of women over the age of 15 are married.

Here's a final interesting example of interesting divorce facts: Washington, D.C. has the lowest percentage of married people in the United States. Only 28 percent of men are married, and for women the number comes in at 23 percent.

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