Divorce Rate – Quick facts about the divorce rate

Is the current divorce rate in the U.S. really 50%?

Actually, the divorce rate is more likely somewhere between 40% and 50%.  The 50% divorce rate figure we always hear is based on faulty logic. 

Actually, the divorce rate is more likely somewhere between 40% and 50%.  The 50% divorce rate figure we always hear is based on faulty logic.  This logic goes something like this:  "In one year, there were 2.4 million marriages and 1.2 million divorces.  Therefore, the divorce rate is 50%."  The problem is that someone has grossly oversimplified the math in figuring the divorce rate.  Divorce rate scholar Scott Stanley of the University of Denver explains that the 40-50% divorce rate number "comes from detailed analyses of various population demographics, including ages, divorce rates by ages, lifespan projections, etc. It represents a sophisticated projection."  So, while different researches vary to certain degrees, it seems credible to view the current U.S. divorce rate as 40-50%.

In a 2001 report, the CDC stated that  1/5 of first marriages end within five years; 1/3 within ten years.  Facts about the divorce rate for second marriages is even higher.  The CDC found "a strong probability that second marriages will end in separation or divorce: 23 percent after five years and 39 percent after ten years.”

Divorce rate good news? Actually, yes.  Researchers agree that the overall divorce rate peaked around 1980 and appears to have declined modestly since then.  Divorce rates per 1,000 marriages were 22.6 in 1980, 20.9 in 1990, and 18.8 in 2000. (Source:  National Marriage Project, State of Our Unions, 2005)

That’s one of the main questions that we at eHarmony Marriage began with.  We sincerely believe that we are contributing to the declining divorce rate by helping couples communicate better, deepen their intimacy, have better sex, and trust each other more. 

Let’s face it:  A 40-50% divorce rate is an epidemic.  It therefore makes sense that we, as a society, would try to address this issue that so clearly affects so many men, women, and children.  (For instance, did you know that the majority of children raised outside of marriage experience poverty? And as many as one-third of divorced women slip below the poverty level after divorce.  [Source:  Bradford Wilcox et al, 2005, Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences, NY: Institute for American Values]) 

At eHarmony Marriage, it’s our goal to meaningfully and significantly alter the current divorce rate by helping strengthen and deepen marriages.

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