The United States of Divorce
/For a change of pace, and to brighten up your Monday: Everything you never wanted to know about your nation’s relative inability to keep relationships going!
The Facts:
There are 100 divorces every hour in the U.S.
Slightly less than 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. This number is affected by outliers with multiple marriages, however.
Like marriage, divorce in the United States is the province of state governments, and divorce laws vary from state to state.
In the US, 41% of first marriages end in divorce, 60% of second marriages end in divorce, and 73 % of third marriages end in divorce.
The average age for couples going through their first divorce is 30 years old.
According to the 2011 United Nations’s Demographic Yearbook, the US had the sixth-highest divorce rate. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and the Cayman Islands had the top five spots in that order.
2008 voter data showed that states that tend to vote Republican have higher divorce rates than states that tend to vote Democrat.
New York was the latest state to allow non-consensual no-fault divorce, in 2010.
On average, it takes about a year to complete a divorce procedure in the US.
A few high-profile court cases have involved children “divorcing” their parents; these are not actually divorces, but the legal emancipation of minors.
In 2015, the Manhattan Supreme Court ruled that Ellanora Baidoo could serve her husband divorce papers through a Facebook message, and she became the first woman to legally serve her husband divorce papers via Facebook.
As of 2011, for states with available data, the dissolution rates for same-sex couples are slightly lower on average than divorce rates of different-sex couples.
Of marriages ending in divorce, the average length is 8 years.
The average divorcee waits 4 years before remarrying, if they choose to remarry.
Approximately 73% of people with parents still married make it to their 10th anniversary.
57% of people who grew up in homes where one or both parents were absent make it to their 10th anniversary.
A third of all U.S. divorce filings in 2011 contained the word “Facebook.”
According to U.S. statistics, if one partner smokes, a marriage is 75% more likely to end in divorce.
Statistics have shown that approximately 75% of people who marry partners from an affair eventually divorce that person.
People enduring more than a 45 minute commute are 40% more likely to divorce.
Among the occupations with the lowest divorce rates are agricultural engineers, salespeople, nuclear engineers, optometrists, clergy, and podiatrists.
Among the occupations with the highest divorce rates are dancers and choreographers, bartenders and massage therapists.
Other occupations in the top 10 include casino workers, telephone operators, and nurses.
The Air Force has the highest rate of divorce out of all the US military services.
Women initiate about two-thirds of all divorces in the US.
Among first marriages, 15% of men marry someone more than 6 years younger. On second marriages, this rises to 38%.
Less than half of U.S. children younger than 18 are currently living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage.
The divorce of a friend or close relative may increase the chances that a couple will divorce.
New York has the lowest share of currently married adult men in the USA.
If you argue with your spouse about finances once a week, your marriage is 30 percent more likely to end in divorce than if you argue with your spouse about finances less frequently.
Couples with no assets at the beginning of a three-year period are 70 percent more likely to divorce by the end of that period than couples with $10,000 in assets.
If you have twins or triplets, your marriage is 17 percent more likely to end in divorce than if your children are not multiple births.
If you’ve been diagnosed with cervical cancer, your likelihood of getting divorced is 40 percent higher than standard rates.
Your likelihood of divorce is 20 percent higher if you’ve been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The only US President elected after a divorce was Ronald Reagan.
Britney Spears and Jason Allen Alexander currently have the record for shortest US celebrity marriage, at 55 hours.
Mel and Robyn Gibson’s divorce in 2009 is considered to be the largest celebrity divorce settlement, as Mel paid his ex $425 million.
Among the most expensive celebrity divorces is Steven Spielberg’s settlement with Amy Irving ($100 million) and Michael Jordan’s settlement with Juanita Jordan ($168 million).
In general, men tend to file for divorce in January over women at a ratio of about 2 to 1.
The top 5 reasons for divorce include communication problems; infidelity or betrayal; financial problems; psychological, emotional, and physical abuse; and loss of interest.
79.6% of custodial mothers receive a support award, while only 29.6% of custodial fathers receive support.
Among female respondents, those with a wedding bill higher than $20,000 divorced at 3.5 times the rate of those with a $5,000-$10,000 wedding bill.
In recent studies it has been found that couple who meet online have a lower divorce rate and report higher levels of marital satisfaction.
The use of Facebook and other social networking sites is linked to increased marital dissatisfaction and increased divorce rates.
Among heavy social media users, 32 percent had thought about leaving their significant others, compared to 16 percent of non-social media users.
Couples that use individual pronouns (“I” and “you”) more often are more likely to divorce than couples who use collective pronouns (“we” and “us”).
Several studies have found that couples are more likely to fight after having a bad night’s sleep.
According to a Brigham Young University study, couples reported lower marital satisfaction when one spouse’s gaming interfered with bedtime routines, with 75% of spouses of gamers desiring more marital input from their spouses.
Interestingly, when both spouses gamed, a majority reported greater satisfaction in their relationships than the median.
A 26-year longitudinal study found that when a husband reported having a close relationship with his wife’s parents, the couple’s risk of divorce decreased by 20 percent.
Conversely, when a wife reported having a close relationship with her husband’s parents, the couple’s risk of divorce increased by 20 percent.
Are you sufficiently depressed yet?
Respectfully,
James J. Sexton