Relationship

What to Know About the Divorce Rate in America

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The divorce rate in America may be dropping, but that does not always mean good news. Here’s what to know about the divorce rate in America.

Every year in the United States, more than two million weddings take place. While these are joyous days for most couples, not every wedding leads to a happily ever after. 

In fact, each year more than 700,000 couples file for divorce. So if your marriage isn’t working out, you’re definitely in good company.

However, if you want to really understand the divorce process, you need to take a close look at the divorce rate in America. In that case, you’ve come to the right place! 

Read on to find out everything you need to know about divorce rates in America.

What Does the Declining Divorce Rate in America Really Mean? 

The statistics show that the divorce rate in America is declining. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that more relationships are thriving.

In fact, it probably has more to do with the fact that fewer couples are choosing to get married in the first place. 

This decline comes after divorce rates peaked in the 1980s, which makes the rates we see today look a lot lower in comparison. However, the divorce rate in the US today is still twice as high as it was back in the 1960s.

Interestingly, certain factors seem to play a big role the divorce statistics. To get a better picture of what you can expect for your marriage, let’s take a look at some of these.

Certain Factors Affect the Divorce Rate

Several things can affect the divorce rate including: 

  • The race and ethnicity of a couple
  • The importance of religion to one or both members of a marriage
  • Whether or not a couple has a family history of divorce
  • If one or both spouses have an anxiety disorder 
  • Whether the couple has children and when their children were born

These factors can all make a couple more or less likely to get divorced. For example, a strong religious background lowers the divorce rate for most couples. 

The divorce rate is also higher for people entering into their second or third marriages. In a first marriage, the divorce rate sits at 29%. However, in a second marriage, this increases to 60% perhaps because the spouses are already open to the idea of divorce.

Geography can even play a role when it comes to divorce. At the moment, South Dakota and Oklahoma have the highest divorce rates per state in the US.

Getting into a Divorce

Every divorce is personal can take a different direction.

For example, some cases will need to be settled in divorce court if the two spouses can’t agree on a settlement. In other cases, hiring a divorce lawyer will be enough when it comes to filing for divorce.

The majority of divorces in the US are settled as no-fault divorces. The reasons for these include:

  • Irreconcilable differences
  • Incompatibility
  • The irreversible breakdown of the marriage

In some cases, often when deception or illegality results in a divorce, one spouse will file for an at-fault divorce. How to file for divorce when one person is at fault is more complicated however it can result in a better deal for the innocent party.

Divorce Rates Are Not All They Seem 

As you can see, while the divorce rate in America is declining this doesn’t paint the whole picture for those going through divorces. To understand divorce better, you need to take a closer look at each individual’s circumstances.

For more brilliant articles on navigating your relationships, check out the rest of our relationship blog!

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