U.S. Census on Divorce and Marriage

A recent report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau looking at how families and marriages were taking shape in the United States.

This report, the first of its kind, uses information gathered in 2009 on divorces, marriages, widows, and the children of these families as reference.  The number of men and women who got married in 2009 was about 18.3 percent, and just under ten percent of people who got married or were already married in this year.  The national average of divorce for men was also near ten percent.  States that had high marriage rates also showed higher divorce rates.

The study also showed something interesting about the effect region may play on divorce.  States in the north had less annual marriage rates, but they also had less divorces.  Whereas states in the south had more marriages and more divorces.  The highest rates in the country were in the South and West. Alaska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Maine ranked at the top for divorces.  Utah, Wyoming, and Arkansas, which had the highest marriage rates, were also higher than average in divorce rates.  New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts ranked among the lowest in divorces.

Furthermore, the report also showed that people were waiting until later in life to wed. In 1970, the median age for first marriages increased from 22.5 years to 28.4 for men and 20.6 years to 26.5 for women.

Marriages are at an all-time low. In 2000, 57 percent of adults over age 18 were married, while in 2009 only 52 percent were married.

Other findings showed nearly 1.5 percent of all children in 2009 lived in a home of a parent who divorced the previous year. And nearly three-quarters of children living with a divorced parent live with a household run by their mother. And in 2009, nearly 23 percent of single mothers received public assistance, compared with 15 percent of divorced fathers.

At the Men’s Divorce Law Firm we see your case as more than just a statistic.  If you find yourself in this situation contact us today to see how we can aggressively represent your case.