If you ask the average American to estimate the current divorce rate in the United States, 50 percent might be the answer that you will hear. However, the author of a recently released book on the subject espouses the premise that the idea that half of all marriages end in divorce is basically an urban myth. She argues that such misconceptions are damaging to the institution of marriage and need to be corrected.
The author says that those false figures started in the 1970s, at about the same time as no-fault divorce became legal. When no-fault divorce statutes proliferated, divorce rates skyrocketed.
At the time, sociologists and demographers projected that the divorce rate would eventually reach 50 percent. But, according to the author, it has never even been close. There was an explosion in the divorce rate after no-fault divorce first became available, but then it sharply declined to about 32 percent of marriages since 1980.
The author conducted an eight-year study on the subject of divorce and used data from the U.S. Census Bureau. She argues that the actual overall divorce rate is under 28 percent.
Even if the author’s statistics are accepted as a more accurate measurement of the current divorce rate, it is clear that divorces still happen often. Divorce can be very emotionally and financially draining. If you are going through a divorce, or even considering it, a Colorado divorce attorney may be able to help you wade through the complicated laws and difficult negotiations necessary to complete the task and move on with your life.
Source: The Blaze, “ Is Everything We’ve Been Told About Marriage and Divorce Completely Wrong?” Billy Hallowell, May 6, 2014
Tags: Divorce
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