A snapshot of marriage in the U.S.:
Marriage
- People are getting married later in life. Median age for males is 28; for females it is 26. There has been a modest decline in the divorce rate since it reached an all- time high in 1980.
- In a given year nearly half of all marriages are remarriages for one or both partners.
- The marriage rate (annual number of marriages per 1,000 unmarried adult women) continues to decline. It has dropped 50% (to 45.6) in fifty years.
- The marriage rate for African-Americans is considerably lower than for any other U.S. population group.
- The percentage of never married persons aged 25- 35 has increased by 20% in the past thirty years, suggesting more lifelong singlehood.
- 28% of married, self-identified Catholics have a non-Catholic spouse (2007 CARA study). The percentage of interfaith marriages varies by region, from less than 20% in areas with a high proportion of Catholics, to about 40%.
- More than 80% of couples seeking to be married in the Catholic Church participate in a marriage preparation program.
- Within the first few years of marriage nearly half of all interchurch couples become same-church because one spouse or both change religious affiliation.
- Roughly two-thirds of both married men and married women rate their marriages as “very happy.” This has remained mostly steady for the past thirty years.
Divorce
- There has been a modest decline in the divorce rate since it reached an all- time high in 1980; there are now 18 divorces (rather than 22) per 1,000 married women.
- The projected rate of divorcing still stands at around 50%. This represents the percentage of marriages (first and remarriage) entered into during a particular year that are projected to end in divorce or separation before one spouse dies.
- Approximately 60-67% of second marriages end in divorce, and about 74% of third marriages end in divorce.
- About one-third of adults who have ever been married and are still living have experienced a divorce. This percentage rises to 46% for the baby boom generation.
- One’s chances of divorce are diminished by such factors as: older age, higher income, more education, having a religious affiliation, absence of divorce in family of origin, and having a child after marriage.
- The highest percentage of divorces occurs within the first three years of marriage.
Cohabitation
- Cohabitation (sexual partners sharing a household) has increased 1100% in forty years. Over 50% of first marriages are preceded by cohabitation.
- Almost 40% of cohabiting households have children in them.
For further research on the state of marriage in the U.S. and its impact on society, see:
The State of Our Unions, The National Marriage Project, University of Virginia
Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially, (Broadway, 2001)
