Marriage – Divorce Statistics
As with most statistics reporting for most subjects, there may be a wide discrepancy in the reporting figures because it all depends on who is collecting the data, who are they surveying and what questions are asked. The other given about statistics is that they are very seldom current; they often are several years behind the current time frame. In looking for statistics I could find for marriage and divorce; I kept all of that in mind. Therefore I searched for the latest figures and the most objective source of those figures I could find. Here is the current result of my search and findings. The latest I could find for marriage statistics was 2005.
Marriage Statistics:
- There were approximately 2,230,000 marriages in 2005 — down from 2,279,000 the previous year, despite a total population increase of 2.9 million over the same period.
- The divorce rate in 2005 (per 1,000 people) was 3.6 — the lowest rate since 1970, and down from 4.2 in 2000 and from 4.7 in 1990. (The peak was at 5.3 in 1981, according to the Associated Press.)
- The marriage rate in 2005 (per 1,000) was 7.5, down from 7.8 the previous year.
- In 2004, the state with the highest reported divorce rate was Nevada, at 6.4 (per 1,000). Arkansas was a close second, with a divorce rate of 6.3, followed by Wyoming at 5.3. The District of Columbia had the lowest reported divorce rate, at 1.7, followed by Massachusetts at 2.2 and Pennsylvania at 2.5. (Figures were not complete for California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, or Oklahoma.)
- 8.1% of coupled households consist of unmarried heterosexual partners, according to The State of Our Unions 2005, a report issued by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University. The same study said that only 63% of American children grow up with both biological parents — the lowest figure in the Western world.
- As of 2003, 43.7% of custodial mothers and 56.2% of custodial fathers were either separated or divorced. And in 2002, 7.8 million Americans paid about $40 billion in child and/or spousal support (84% of the payers were male).
- Americans tend to get married more between June and October than during the rest of the year. In 2005, August had the most marriages at about 235,000 or a rate of 9.3 per 1,000 people. The previous year, July was the highest month at 246,000, or a rate of 9.9; this doubled the lowest month in 2004, January.
(Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, National Center for Health Statistics)
What is the current divorce rate in America?
Information from http://www.divorcerate.org/
It is frequently reported that the divorce rate in America is 50%. This data is not accurately correct, however, it is reasonably close to actual. The Americans for Divorce Reform estimates that “Probably, 40 or possibly even 50 percent of marriages will end in divorce if current trends continue.”, which is actually a projection.
“50% of all marriages in the America end in divorce.”
The above statement about the divorce rate in
America hides all the details about distribution, however.
Age at marriage for those who divorce in America
| Age | Women | Men |
| Under 20 years old | 27.6% | 11.7% |
| 20 to 24 years old | 36.6% | 38.8% |
| 25 to 29 years old | 16.4% | 22.3% |
| 30 to 34 years old | 8.5% | 11.6% |
| 35 to 39 years old | 5.1% | 6.5% |
The divorce rate in America for first marriage, vs second or third marriage
50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.”
According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:
The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%
(Here the data is for the year 2000 unless otherwise noted.)
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