In the 1970s, no-fault divorce laws began to sweep across the United States. This led to a sharp increase in divorce rates because the new laws made divorce easier. More couples could pursue divorce when they hadn’t been able to previously. They may have already wanted a divorce before the laws changed.
Many people at the time lamented this rising divorce rate and felt that it was going to continue rising into the future. But is that actually what has happened?
It depends on your age bracket
The truth is that it is hard to look at the divorce rate for all Americans because that includes many different age brackets. These age brackets have different divorce rates, and splitting them up into age groups can show the different ways that the rates are trending.
For example, for the majority of Americans, the divorce rate is actually going down. Couples are splitting up less often. They are also cohabitating more often before marriage, which can lower the divorce rate because couples who break up when they are not technically married don’t have to get a divorce.
However, for those who are 50 years old and older, the divorce rate is going up. This is known as gray divorce, and this age bracket is the only one with a rising divorce rate. It’s also worth noting that second marriages may have a higher divorce rate than first marriages, and many people in this age bracket may be on their second marriage.
As you can see, divorce is a very complicated issue, and there is a lot of data to consider. Those who are going through the divorce process also need to know about their legal options. The divorce and family law attorneys at Suisman Shapiro can help.
