The American Divorce
By: Dante Smith
The stats don’t lie. 50% of all American marriages will end in divorce. Does this mean that you, your friends and family have no chance at all of a lasting marriage? Who knows? But many of the leading marriage experts will tell you that the divorce rate is actually closer to 40% and that number tends to decline that older the spouses are when they get married. The 50% divorce rate that we hear so much about tends to be for a young couple marrying for the first time, when referring to these younger couples some analyst say the rate is even as high as 60%. What about the rest of the marrying population? Like your parents who have been married for 30, 40 or 50 years.
Studies show us that college grads are also less likely than others to get a divorce. College grads also tend to make more than non-grads, so it seems that education and income level tend to play a role in determining whether the marriage will last. Length of marriage is very important as most divorces occur during the first few years of marriage. Author James Mills talks about the “Two Year Itch”, which he states that 1 in 10 couples will split after 24 months of marriage. So based on Mill’s “two year itch” theory, the longer a couple stays married the less likely a divorce will occur. This is probably the reason your parents marriage of 40 years isn’t likely to end anytime soon.
What about kids? Couples who have kids divorce less than couples without children. This shows that couples are willing to stay in a bad relationship just for the sake of their children.
The mythical 50% divorce rate can be even more deceiving when the number of actual divorces is broken down by race. White Americans have the highest rate among the races, while Asian-Americans have the lowest. The divorce rate of Asian-Americans is nowhere near the 50% rate. In fact 8 out of 10 Asian-American children in the United States live with both parents, a rate than significantly higher than other ethnic group.
What do all of these stats amount to? What does all of this information mean? Well first and foremost the 50% divorce rate doesn’t exactly apply to everyone. This is especially true if you are a minority or have a college degree or decide to get married a little later in life.