Divorce Statistics and Studies Blog

Cumulative/Lifetime Divorce Rates Sorted by Education, Employment, Ethnicity

Divorce Rates for Different Groups

By NATHAN YAU on  DATA UNDERLOAD, 3/30/16 (using data through 2014)

The Divorce Surge Is Over, but the Myth Lives On: CUMULATIVE Stats Tell a More Relevant Story

"About 70 percent of marriages that began in the 1990s reached their 15th anniversary, up from about 65 percent of those that began in the 1970s and 1980s.Those who married in the 2000s are so far divorcing at even lower rates. If current trends continue, nearly two-thirds of marriages will never involve a divorce. 

"The decline in divorce is concentrated among people with college degrees. For the less educated, divorce rates are closer to those of the peak divorce years. Of college-educated people who married in the early 2000s, only about 11 percent divorced by their seventh anniversary, the last year for which data is available. Among people without college degrees, 17 percent were divorced."

Condensed from:

The Divorce Surge Is Over, but the Myth Lives On: Cumulative share of marriages ending in divorce

 

By Claire Cain Miller  in the New York Times, 12/2/14

 

But I heartily disagree with Justin Wolfers's explanation for this (or what looks like his explanation after the reporter and editors get through with it): 

“It’s just love now,” Mr. Wolfers said. “We marry to find our soul mate, rather than a good homemaker or a good earner.”

Being a good earner has always been important in the marriage market. Just ask the President.

Actuaries divorce least, casino managers most: rates by occupation from 2015 American Community Survey

Divorce and Occupation

BY NATHAN YAU  ON DATA UNDERLOAD