The US divorce rate is at a 40 year low

[Anonymous]

Any ideas on why? ONe I can think of is people who live together for a few years, then split up whereas decades ago they would have been married and the break would have been counted as a divorce.

[Anonymous]

Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

[Anonymous]

Too broke to divorce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

Probably. Less people are getting married just because the woman got pregnant. Unwed motherhood is no longer a stigma.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

Technically, it's the rate that's gone down, which is a percentage of marriages and wouldn't necessarily change because there are fewer marriages altogether. However, I do think that people are waiting much longer to marry and that gives people more time to mature to where they can sustain a marriage. There are also more avenues for couples who are having problems. Seeing a counselor is not the stigma it used to be. Couples are willing to work more to stay married.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

Yeah, I wondered the same thing. Marriage rates are way down. Co-habitation and singles are way up.

"The share of adults who are married has been steadily declining for decades. In 2014, just half of Americans were married, down from 57% in 2000. In 1960, 72% of U.S. adults were married." - Pew Research Center

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

Probabky

[Anonymous]

Couples who cohabitate prior to marriage have a higher than average divorce rate; I would surmise the drop in divorce rate is a product of marriage occurring later in life. Is there analysis controlling for age at marriage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Couples who cohabitate prior to marriage have a higher than average divorce rate; I would surmise the drop in divorce rate is a product of marriage occurring later in life. Is there analysis controlling for age at marriage?

There are definitely stats on divorce rates segmented by the couples' ages at the time of the marriage. Divorce rates drop steadily as age at marriage increases.

[Anonymous]

The average age when people are getting married has increased significantly over the past 40 years. Starting out with more maturity is likely a factor.

[Anonymous]

The economy sucks.

People are too poor to divorce.

Also, custody has gotten more favorable to dads. Many women are postponing divorce and just sucking it up because they do not want to only see their children half the time.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I'm optimistic but I think it's because people are marrying for love and have more freedom than ever to choose who and what they want in life. My parents married to escape their parent so households.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be because less people are getting married to begin with?

Divorce RATE not divorce NUMBERS.

People are getting married later, that helps. They aren't necessarily getting married if one of them gets pregnant. That also helps.

[Anonymous]

Gray divorce rates are increasing. Boomers, the trend-setters, are divorcing after 50.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The economy sucks.

People are too poor to divorce.

Also, custody has gotten more favorable to dads. Many women are postponing divorce and just sucking it up because they do not want to only see their children half the time.

This exactly.