Divorce could be the law most used by a lot of people, both the rich and famous as well as the regular workers. If marriages are rampant, so is the filing for divorce. To date, divorce statistics had seen a steady rise since its introduction in the American law.
Overall, the U.S. divorce rate is at 50%. That number may rise or fall depending upon the state you are focusing at. Most of divorce cases are coming from the age group of 29 and below, as they tend to jump into marriage hastily.
Divorce statistics show, however, that the rate within the Christian communities is only at 1 to 2 per cent. That means only 1 or 2 out of one hundred marriages of people with Christian faith end in divorce. The factor causing this is the family values being inculcated by their respective Christian churches.
In the U.S. alone around 1,163,000 cases of divorce were granted in 1997 alone. The state where the highest divorce rate comes from is Nevada with 9 per 1,000. The lowest, on the other hand, is Massachusetts, which only has 2.4 per 1,000.
The percentage of the adult people who are married shows a downward trend over the years. In 1970, as much as 72% of adults were married. In1990, the number went down to 62%. However, come 1997, it further went down to 59%. This shows that slowly, people are beginning to evaluate the impact of getting married.
Only 24% of adults are not married and 7% percent are widowed. The median age of a first divorce is around 30 years old for males and 29 for females. For second divorce, it is at 40 years old for men and 32 for women.
This shows that first marriages ending in divorce usually last for around 8 years. Second marriages, however, will only last for 7 years on the average. There is usually a 3-year waiting time before adults marry again.
On the brighter side, couples who reach their 5th anniversary, is high at 82%. For 10th and 15th year anniversaries, it is at 65% and 52% respectively. But the number goes down as the year adds up. Couples reaching their 25th, 35th, and 50th wedding anniversaries are only 33%, 20%, and 5%, in that order. Of course, there are other factors to consider such as deaths and geographical issues.
If you wanted to file for a divorce, the average time it will take is 1 year. That number also contributes to the fact why adults have to wait for around 3 years before marrying again.
Although divorce is common to couples who do not have children within the marriage, divorce statistics show that around 1 million children are affected by the divorce of their parents since 1997. In 1998, 84% of children are living with single parents.
Custody is usually awarded to the wife. Divorce statistics show that as much as 72% of the cases end this way. In 9% of the time, children were given to the fathers. For joint custody, statistics reports a 16% possibility.
One more important thing to note is that 63% of teenage suicide comes from fatherless homes. Along with that 90% of the homeless and runaway children arise from the same situation.
These divorce statistics are real, and on a certain point of view, can even be alarming. However, these numbers should teach people as to what their position on marriage and divorce should be. Hopefully, this will make them more informed so as to decide better the things they wanted both in life and family.
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