The oft-quoted statistic about 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce is incorrect and has been for some time now. Divorce rates have declined since the 1980s and it is now estimated your chances of divorce are at about 39 percent. Even though this seems like good news, it is not necessarily an indication that the number of people living happily ever after with their spouse has increased. 

Much of the drop in the divorce rate is due to the generation known as millennials, who are less likely to get divorced. A recent study said millennials were 18 percent less likely to divorce than young married couples in 2008. There are numerous potential reasons behind this shift.

Divorce can happen to couples at any age, whether they are young or old, and no matter how long they have been together. There is a growing trend in divorce in which older couples split even when they have been married for a long time. 

If a couple divorces and they are over 50 years old, it is commonly known as a “gray divorce.” Gray divorces bring their own unique challenges, and learning about those potential obstacles before you are in the middle of divorce proceedings will help you in your own case and in life afterward. 

Divorce can happen because of money, extramarital affairs, growing apart, and many other reasons. As the American people’s viewpoint on marriage has evolved over the past few decades, it may seem as if more people are getting divorced than at any time throughout the country’s history. There are a variety of reasons for this idea, including the facts that people are living longer, more people are cohabitating instead of getting married, and expectations of marriage have changed, especially in the last 40 to 50 years. 

What Do the Numbers Say?

The perception that more people are getting divorced now than ever before is not strictly the case if we look at the statistics on divorces per capita: 

• In 1970, the divorce rate was 14.9 divorces and annulments per 1,000 married women. 
• In 2015, the divorce rate was 16.9 divorces and annulments per 1,000 married women.

These two numbers are fairly similar, but in order to fully understand the history of the divorce rate, there is a middle number which needs to be examined.