In 1997, there were a total of 1,163,000 divorces granted in the United States. That's 4.3 per one thousand of the population. There are currently 19,400,000 divorced adults (1998). The median age at divorce is 35.6 for Males and 33.2 for females. The median duration of a marriage is 7.2 years. There are an estimated 1,075,000 children involved in divorce or 16.8 children per one thousand under the age of eighteen who are involved in their parents' divorce.
Divorce Trends
| 80% of divorced men and 75% of women remarry whether or not they have children, and most do so within three years.
|
| Five years later (after divorce) after most men and women have remarried, women's household incomes increased slightly more above pre-divorce levels than those of their ex-husbands.
|
| 2/3 to 3/4 of divorces are initiated by women.
|
| According to Dr. Peter Orli in Seven Myths of Divorce, women are generally more satisfied with their divorce settlements than men, and this satisfaction is stable over time.
|
| Recent statistics suggest that 50% of all marriages will end in divorce. In Southern California the divorce rate is purported to be even higher, somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-75%.
|
| Number of marriages |
|
2,230,000
|
| Marriage rate |
|
7.5 per 1,000 total population
|
| Divorce rate |
|
3.6 per 1,000 population
|
Marriage & Divorce FAQ 2002
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics, Americans for Divorce Reform
| Percentage of population that is married |
59% |
down from 62% in 1990,
72% in 1970 |
| Percentage of population that has never married |
24% |
|
| Percentage of population that is divorced |
10% |
up from 8% in 1990,
6% in 1980 |
| Percentage of population that is widowed |
7% |
|
| Median age at first marriage |
26.9
25.3 |
male
female |
| Median age at first divorce |
30.5
29 |
male
female |
| Median age at second marriage |
34
32 |
male
female |
| Median age at second divorce |
39.3
37 |
male
female |
| Median duration of first marriages that end in divorce |
7.8
7.9 |
male
female |
| Median duration of second marriages that end in divorce |
7.3
6.8 |
male
female |
| Median number of years people wait to remarry after their first divorce |
3.3
3.1 |
male
female |
| Percentage of married people who reach their 5th, 10th, and 15th anniversaries |
5th
10th
15th |
82%
65%
52% |
| Percentage of married people who reach their 25th, 35th, and 50th anniversaries |
25th
35th
50th |
33%
20%
5% |
| Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 25 |
32%
50% |
male
female |
| Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 35 |
77%
84% |
male
female |
| Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 45 |
87%
90% |
male
female |
| Percentage of people who have ever been married by the age of 55 |
95%
95% |
male
female |
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