Divorce Rates

You can tell a lot about a society by looking at its marriage and divorce rates. We did some digging around to see what we could find out about the United States. Here are the marriage and divorce rates of our country:

Divorce Rates

In 2005, the divorce rates in the United States reached their lowest points since 1970.

To date, 1981 had more divorces than any other year in history.

Each time a person gets married it increases their likelihood of getting a divorce. First marriages have divorce rates of between forty one and fifty percent (depending on your source of information). Second marriages have a sixty to sixty percent chance of failing and seventy four percent of third marriages fail.

Divorce is more likely to occur with married couples who are childless. It's a small difference in percentage from couples who do have children, but it is still an interesting statistic. Sixty percent of all married couples who do not have children will get divorced. Sociologists are currently debating whether or not a couple's childless state contributes to the dissolution of their marriage.

The United States divorce rates are the highest on the planet. The United States rate is 5 people out of a thousand are divorced. Incidentally, the country with the lowest divorce rates is Sri Lanka. Only .15 (note the decimal point) people out of one thousand will get divorced.

Thirteen percent of the world's population is divorced.

The state with the highest divorce rate is Nevada.

The state with the lowest divorce rate isn't actually a state at all: The District of Columbia has the lowest divorce rate in the United States.

Only sixty three percent of the children living in the United States grow up in a home in which both of their biological parents stay married.

The average age for a first divorce among men is thirty, while women's first divorce usually hits by age twenty nine.

Ten percent of the population in the United States is divorced. Twenty four percent of the population has never been married at all.

Marriage Rates

Most people are marred between the ages of twenty and twenty four. After the age of twenty four the percentage of people getting married drops off dramatically but more so for women than men. Twelve percent of men aged thirty to thirty four get married, but only eight and a half percent of women who are the same age get married.

Even though the population rose by almost three percent in 2005, the number of marriages declined. There were more than forty thousand fewer marriages in 2005 than occurred in 2004.

Most marriages take place between June and October. In 2005, August was the most popular month to get married. July was the most popular marriage month of 2004.

Of the first marriages that ended in divorce, the average length of the marriage was not quite eight years.

8.1 percent of coupled homes involving a heterosexual couple are not married. The number of couples who live together without getting married is rising steadily.

How to Get a Divorce Tip #1

You need a lawyer. Even if you think that things will stay friendly and both you and your spouse make every effort to keep them that way, a lawyer must be consulted to make sure that everything is filled out and filed correctly. You can use the same lawyer if you want to keep the costs down, but a lawyer must be consulted.

How to Get a Divorce Tip #2

Your County Clerk is the best place to go for divorce forms and filings. They will have the forms that are the most up to date. Using older forms can waste time and money when you are forced to fill out a more current version. Laws and forms change all the time, make sure yours are the correct ones to use!

How to Get a Divorce Tip #3

This is not going to be an easy time for you. Even if you and your spouse are convinced that the divorce is in both of your best interests and things remain friendly, ending a marriage is never an easy process. Make sure you have a good system of support surrounding you to help you get through it.