Divorce Statistics and Studies Blog

New census report says a lot about divorce, marriage

This AP story includes several new observations based on the just-released report by the Census Bureau's longtime divorce analyst, Rose Kreider. They include:

- 41% of women in their 50s have been divorced. (Much more accurate than the usual census counts, which undercount divorce by not counting people who have married again.)

- Roughly 46% of couples married 25 years ago are divorced.

- Younger people and more recently-married couples have less divorce than their counterparts did in the past.

- The "seven year itch" -- the length of marriages that end in divorce -- is a mathematical average of a wide range of numbers -- there's not really any tendency for marriages to break up after seven years.

[Note: The news story link below seems not to work as of 5/30/12, but we've added the link above directly to the Census Bureau report.]

Census: Divorces decline but 7-year itch persists - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee.

More US Marriages Lasting Longer - Census Bureau

Number of long-lasting marriages in U.S. has risen, Census Bureau reports - The Washington Post.

Broken marriages drain tax coffers; help available

Broken marriages draining tax coffers | Deseret News.By Lois M. Collins, 4/30/11. Excerpts:

The cost of divorce and out-of-wedlock births to taxpayers nationally exceeds $112 billion a year, including the cost of federal, state and local government programs and forgone tax revenues, according to "The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-ever Estimates for the Nation and All 50 States".

...

 Utah taxpayers spend about $276 million on the effects of divorce and out-of-wedlock childbirth. But while there are effective tools to strengthen marriage and families, those who statistically need help most are the least likely to seek it out, experts say. "Those who are younger, less educated and less religious feel that such education is not important. But they are more apt to divorce, as well," said Melanie Reese, coordinator for the Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative.  

...

The top five reasons people divorce are not a mystery, said Reese: lack of commitment, conflict/arguments, infidelity, marrying too young and finances. Often, these factors intertwine ...