Surprising Stats About Divorce
Here are some stats about divorce that I’ve curated from a handful of websites (sources below). This is just a sampling of data and there’s plenty of nuance that could be added. My purpose here is simply to highlight a few interesting data points.
General Stats
The average marriage length is 8.2 years
The average age of people going through a first-time divorce is 30
An estimated 41% of first marriages end in divorce
Women initiate 69% of all divorces
Big Divorce is Big Business
The divorce industry is worth $50 billion/yr
The average total cost is $12,900 per divorce
The average attorney’s fee is $11,300 per divorce
The average divorce attorney’s hourly rate is $270
In other words, divorce is financially incentivized in the USA.
Children and Divorce
26.5% of children under 21 have a parent living in a different home. That’s about 21.9 million kids.
30.1% of these kids are in poverty.
67% of Americans believe divorce is better for kids than them witnessing the problems in a troubled marriage.
Ethnic Factors in Divorce
The marriage rate for white couples is 32.1%. The divorce rate is 15.1%
The marriage rate for black couples is 17.3%. The divorce rate is 30.8%
The marriage rate for hispanic couples is 33.2%. The divorce rate is 18.5%
Native Americans are the most likely to divorce
Asians are the least likely to divorce
Internal cultural factors within these ethnic groups, such as income and education levels, are also contributing factors.
Factors that INCREASE Likelihood of Divorce
Having divorced parents
Having been divorced before (on average, 41% of marriages end in divorce. 2nd marriages are 60%, 3rd marriages are 73%)
Premarital sex (more partners, especially whn young, increases likelihood of divorce)
Cohabitation (living together before marriage increases likelihood of divorce)
Porn (56% of couples cite porn as a contributor to divorce)
Having close friends who are divorced (as it turns out, divorce is contagious)
Factors that DECREASE Likelihood of Divorce
Getting married in your 20s (people who marry in their 20s are less likely to divorce than those who marry in their 30s)
The husband is the breadwinner (husbands without a FT job are 33% more likely to divorce)
Having children (66% of divorced couples are childless, 40% have children)
* Having children *quickly* (couples who have children in the first year are 24% less likely to divorce)Going to church (the divorce rate for active churchgoers is 27-50% lower than non-churchgoers). We often hear that the Christian divorce rate is the same as the world. This is NOT TRUE. Committed Christians have more stable marriages.
More sex (the happiest couples have sex at least once a week)
Laughter (couples who laugh together report being more satisfied in their relationships)
These last two factors (5-6) aren’t divorce stats per se, but relevant nonetheless.
Conclusion
Here’s the bottom line. There’s a number of factors that contribute to divorce that are not always within our control.
But Christian men and women who fully commit their lives to Christ and are actively pursuing obedience to Christian teaching tend to have strong, long lasting, healthy marriages.
