Surprising Stats About Divorce

And how to strengthen marriages

Here are some stats about divorce that I’ve curated from a handful of websites (sources below). This is just a sampling of data and there’s plenty of nuance that could be added. My purpose here is simply to highlight a few interesting data points.

General stats

• People are getting married later in life

• The average marriage length is 8.2 years.

• The average age of people going through a first-time divorce is 30

• An estimated 41% of first marriages end in divorce

• Women initiate 69% of all divorces

Big Divorce is Big Business

• The divorce industry is worth $50 billion/yr

• The average total cost is $12,900 per divorce

• The average attorney’s fee is $11,300 per divorce

• The average divorce attorney’s hourly rate is $270

In other words, divorce is financially incentivized in the USA

Children and divorce

• 26.5% of children under 21 have a parent living in a different home. That’s about 21.9 million kids.

• 30.1% of these kids are in poverty.

• 67% of Americans believe divorce is better for kids than them witnessing the problems in a troubled marriage.

Ethnic factors in divorce

• The marriage rate for white couples is 32.1%. The divorce rate is 15.1%

• The marriage rate for black couples is 17.3%. The divorce rate is 30.8%

• The marriage rate for hispanic couples is 33.2%. The divorce rate is 18.5%

• Native Americans are the most likely to divorce

• Asians are the least likely to divorce

Internal cultural factors within these ethnic groups, such as income and education levels, are also contributing factors.

Factors that INCREASE likelihood of divorce

1. Having divorced parents

2. Having been divorced before (on average, 41% of marriages end in divorce. 2nd marriages are 60%, 3rd marriages are 73%)

3. Premarital sex (more partners, especially whn young, increases likelihood of divorce)

4. Cohabitation (living together before marriage increases likelihood of divorce)

5. Porn (56% of couples cite porn as a contributor to divorce)

6. Having close friends who are divorced (as it turns out, divorce is contagious)

Factors that DECREASE likelihood of divorce

1. Getting married in your 20s (people who marry in their 20s are less likely to divorce than those who marry in their 30s)

2. The husband is the breadwinner (Husbands without a FT job are 33% more likely to divorce)

3. Having children (66% of divorced couples are childless, 40% have children)
   * Having children *quickly* (couples who have children in the first year are 24% less likely to divorce)

4. Going to church (the divorce rate for active churchgoers is 27-50% lower than non-churchgoers). We often hear that the Christian divorce rate is the same as the world. This is NOT TRUE. Committed Christians have more stable marriages.

5. More sex (the happiest couples have sex at least once a week)

6. Laughter (couples who laugh together report being more satisfied in their relationships)

These last two factors (5-6) aren’t divorce stats per se, but relevant nonetheless.

Conclusion

Here’s the bottom line. There’s a number of factors that contribute to divorce that are not always within our control.

But Christian men and women who fully commit their lives to Christ and are actively pursuing obedience to Christian teaching tend to have strong, long lasting, healthy marriages.

Sources

• Divorce Shocker: Most Marriages Do Make It

• Marriage to Divorce Ratio in the U.S.: Demographic Variation, 2018

• Revealing Divorce Statistics in 2023

• 106 Divorce Statistics You Can’t Ignore: 2023 Divorce Rates and Impact on Children

• Inside America’s Lucrative Divorce Industry

Upcoming King’s Domain Conference

The upcoming King’s Domain Conference can help people divorce-proof their marriages by giving them a grand vision of God’s design for manhood and womanhood.

The conference will take place from April 18-20, 2024, in Cincinnati, OH. The theme is “Gendered Virtue: Men and Women Who Take Dominion.”

This conference is all about building strong households that last for generations. We will focus on both theological principles and practical tools of manhood, womanhood, marriage, and household life.

We have a stellar lineup of speakers who will share their insights about the virtuous living for men and women, including Michael Foster, Toby Sumpter, Joe Rigney, Shane Morris, Matt McBee, and myself.

I’d love to have you join us at this conference! We’ve worked hard to keep the cost affordable. It’s only $120 per person.

Details and registration information is available at moscowmood.com.

Media Appearances

• Interview with the Doctrines of RAD podcast

  

• Interview with Allen Nelson and Eddie Ragsdale on the RCP 2.0 podcast

• My Twitter post about my friend from church was picked up by Not the Bee