Journal Article

Breaking Up Is Hard to Count: The Rise of Divorce in the United States, 1980-2010

Kennedy, Sheela, Ruggles, Steven

2014

Overview

This article critically evaluates the available data on trends in divorce in the United States. We find that both vital statistics and retrospective survey data on divorce after 1990 underestimate recent marital instability. These flawed data have led some analysts to conclude that divorce has been stable or declining for the past three decades. Using new data from the American Community Survey and controlling for changes in the age composition of the married population, we conclude that there was actually a substantial increase in age-standardized divorce rates between 1990 and 2008. Divorce rates have doubled over the past two decades among persons over age 35. Among the youngest couples, however, divorce rates are stable or declining. If current trends continue, overall age-standardized divorce rates could level off or even decline over the next few decades. We argue that the leveling of divorce among persons born since 1980 probably reflects the increasing selectivity of marriage.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer US,Duke University Press, NC & IL
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Age / Age composition / Annulment / Break up / Censuses / Data / Data collection / Demography / Divorce / Divorce - statistics & numerical data / Divorce - trends / Divorce rates / Estimates / Female / Geography / Health care statistics / Humans / Male / Marital instability / Marital stability / Marriage / MARRIAGE, PARTNERSHIPS, AND DIVORCE / Medicine/Public Health / Middle Aged / Polls & surveys / Population / Population dynamics / Population Economics / Population growth / Retrospective Studies / Self Report / Social Sciences / Sociology / Studies / Trends / United States / United States government publications / Vital Statistics / Young Adult