The Divorce Rate Gets "Groovy" Again
The divorce rate has fallen to 1970 levels. However:
For me, the divorce rate has always been something I note whenever people talk about the proverbial "sanctity of marriage" thing. It's hard to talk about how sacred it is when one in five adults have had a divorce.
Some experts say relationships are as unstable as ever — and divorces are down primarily because more couples live together without marrying. Other researchers have documented what they call “the divorce divide,” contending that divorce rates are indeed falling substantively among college-educated couples but not among less-affluent, less-educated couples.
“Families with two earners with good jobs have seen an improvement in their standard of living, which leads to less tension at home and lower probability of divorce,” said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins University.
America’s divorce rate began climbing in the late 1960s and skyrocketed during the ’70s and early ’80s, as virtually every state adopted no-fault divorce laws. The rate peaked at 5.3 divorces per 1,000 people in 1981.
For me, the divorce rate has always been something I note whenever people talk about the proverbial "sanctity of marriage" thing. It's hard to talk about how sacred it is when one in five adults have had a divorce.
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