Find Legal Topics > Divorce Laws > Divorce Facts

Divorce Facts

A Quick Guide to Divorce Facts

Why are Divorce Facts so Ambiguous?

There has been a massive amount of research conducted on divorce and its affect on the former spouses, children, and other family.  However, the statistics and divorce facts sometimes seem ambiguous because every divorce is different.  Every child is different, and every parent is different.  Just because a child may experience academic trouble following a divorce doesn’t mean all children face these same problems.  

So, when you are reading the facts below about children and parents involved in a divorce, remember that these are not necessarily facts—they are general statistics.  

General Divorce Facts

It is commonly assumed that 50% of marriages end in divorce within the United States.  This figure is not necessarily true.  Percentages vary from state to state, ethnicity to ethnicity, and between religions.  Additionally, divorce rates have decreased since the 1980s, and younger generations are even seeing lower divorce rates than older generations.  There are several factors for decreasing divorce rates, such as couples living together before marrying and people marrying later in age, but the divorce rates are still high within the United States.  

Additionally, divorce rates are never completely updated.  The main source of information for divorce rates is the U.S. Census, and these statistics may be delayed for a number of years.  

You will find some more divorce facts listed below:

1) It is generally assumed that parenting skills decrease after the finalization of a divorce, but research also shows that the lack of parenting skills are, for the most part, temporary.  Parenting skills usually decrease for the first year following a divorce, but after two years, the parenting skills usually increase and return to normal.  

2) Up to 25% of teenagers who experience a divorce within their family will become unassociated with their family in the future.  This figure compares to only 10% of adolescents becoming unassociated who came from two parent homes.  

3) A child from a divorced family is twice as likely to drop out of high school and much less likely to attend college.  

4) A study by the National Institute for Healthcare Research states that people who are divorced are three times more likely to commit suicide than people who are married.  Additionally, the same study suggests that divorce is now the number one factor linked to suicide rates within major U.S. cities.  

5) A study published in Social Science Quarterly states that divorced men are 39% more likely to commit suicide than those who are still married.  However, the Journal of Marriage and Family concludes that for every child in the household, an adult is 6 percent less likely to commit suicide following a divorce.  

6) The majority of children do not show signs of the following problems, but research indicates that children involved in a divorce are more likely to face the following: 

• Association with delinquent crime and drugs

• Anxiety and depression

• Less chance of becoming involved in a long term, intimate relationship

• Becoming sexually active at a younger age

Related Topics