The odds of a married couple getting divorced in the United States are just under 50% and as high as 60% for certain counties, while the odds of a divorce during subsequent marriages is even higher. But if you thought that was fascinating, wait until you read these other facts above divorce in the USA.
1. Alimony
There are over 400,000 people in receipt of alimony in the United States. That in itself is not that surprising or shocking, but consider this: only 3% of those in receipt of alimony are male, despite the fact that between 30% to 40% of American families have female breadwinners.
It has been claimed that this is the result of diehard gender roles and sexist judges, but there are many things at play here, and research by Forbes magazine suggests it may have more to do with the fact that men are reluctant to claim alimony or acquire an alimony lawyer, thinking it somehow makes them less of a man or a father.
2. 11 Years of Wedded Bliss
The average length of a marriage in the United States is 11 years, but this is slightly reduced for lower income couples, who are more likely to get divorced. Higher income couples are seemingly less willing to divorce, knowing that it could cost them a lot more if they do.
3. The Changing Face of Divorce
The vast majority of divorces, as many as 90%, are settled out of the court and it seems that a few lawyers and couples are using new technology to their advantage. In 2015, a woman named Eleanore Baidoo became the first person to legally serve divorce papers through Facebook following a ruling by the Manhattan Supreme Court.
4. The Divorce Rate is Dropping
If everything mentioned above has put a dampener on things for you then take heart from the fact that divorce rates are dropping. From the 1950s to the 1990s they increased significantly as people finally had the freedom they needed to get divorced without concerning themselves with what society thought of them.
From the 1990s to the 2010s, however, the divorce rate dropped, going from 4.75 per 1,000 of the general population at the beginning of the decade to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2015. There has been a slight uptick since then, but it’s still much lower than it was in the 1990s.
5. Massachusetts to Arkansas
The divorce rate changes quite considerably from state to state. Massachusetts currently has the lowest divorce rate in the United States at 12.3 per 1,000 married people, while Arkansas has the highest at 23.4 per 1,000 married people.
