When you look at divorce trends in the United States, it’s clear that younger couples are getting divorced less often. Baby Boomers continue to have a very high divorce rate, one that is now clearly abnormal compared to the rest of the population. In recent decades, for instance, the divorce rate for those who are 65 years old and older has tripled.
But young people are trending in the other direction. They are getting divorced at a lower rate. What are some reasons that this could be happening?
Marriage as an achievement
One reason is that people who do get married today tend to be older and more educated. They often see marriage as a goal that they’re trying to get to if possible, whereas previous generations just saw it as something that they were supposed to do regardless. In other words, people aren’t settling in their marriages just for the sake of getting married, but are planning very intentionally when they want to do so.
On top of that, though, younger couples are getting married when they’re older than previous generations. This does help to create more stability, often because the couple will have greater financial security and be more advanced in their careers.
But what it also means is that there are not nearly as many young marriages that come to a quick end. Young marriages tend to correlate with higher divorce rates, so the current trend of procrastinating until around age 30 is helping make the marriages that do happen more stable. Cohabitating couples who break up don’t count as a divorce.
If you’re getting divorced at any age this year, take the time to carefully look into your legal options.