In contrast to the seeming stabilization of divorce rates for the general population over the past two decades, the gray divorce rate has doubled: Married individuals aged 50 and older, including the college-educated, are twice as likely to experience a divorce today as they were in 1990. For married individuals aged 65 and older, the risk of divorce has more than doubled since 1990. Researchers explain why.
Topics of Expertise: Aging / Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce
It is quite likely that the economic crisis both caused some divorces and prevented some divorces. However, the balance of the evidence suggests it prevented more than it caused. I would not read this as good news for marriage and families, however, because there may be negative consequences for people who want to part but cannot divorce because of economic constraints. The enforced wait could simply prolong or exacerbate marital stress and family conflict, rather than saving or restoring a happy marriage.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce
In 1964 the provisions outlawing discrimination on the basis of religion were less controversial than those against discrimination on the basis of race and sex, even though blatant bigotry and outright violence against Catholics and Jews had been pervasive in American history right up through World War II. Prejudices had begun to ease by the early 1960s, but the Civil Rights Act remains an important safeguard for religious (and non-religious) minorities, according to Jerry Z. Park, Joshua Tom and Brita Andercheck, of Baylor University.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Race, Ethnicity & Culture
Why are divorce rates higher in religiously conservative “red” states and lower in less religiously conservative “blue” states? After all, most conservatives frown upon divorce, and religious commitment is believed to strengthen marriage, not erode it. Even so, religiously conservative states Alabama and Arkansas have the second and third highest divorce rates in the U.S., at 13 per 1000 people per year while New Jersey and Massachusetts, more liberal states, are two of the lowest at 6 and 7 per 1000 people per year.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Economic InequalityCFF’s board members, Stephanie Coontz and Phil Cohen discuss the relationship between family structure, race, education and economic inequality in a Washington post article.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Work & Family
By Paula England Professor of Sociology New York University Email: pengland@nyu.edu Phone 650-815-9308 Jonathan Bearak Ph.D. Candidate New York University Email: jonathan.bearak@nyu.edu Historically, women who graduated from college were far more likely than any other group of women — whether high school dropouts, high school graduates, or women with some college – to remain […]
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Gender & Sexuality / History & Trends on Gender, Marriage & Family LifeFor most of the 20th century, women who completed higher education were far less likely to be married than their less-educated counterparts. Then in 2010, the Council on Contemporary Families (CCF) reported new research showing that although college-educated women were still more likely to never marry at all than women with lower educational levels, they were so much less likely to divorce that by age 40, a higher proportion of college-educated women were married than any other group.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Gender & Sexuality / Singles & Dating
Americans are bombarded by a constant stream of competing factoids and causal claims about families. Politicians, advocacy groups, pundits, and instant internet “experts” claim that social science “proves” this or that is the impact of divorce, “surveys show” what people think about marriage, or “the facts are clear” about the benefits of one family form or another. Are some facts more trustworthy than others, and if so, how can we tell the trustworthy from the untrustworthy? What is the difference between a cause, a correlation and a coincidence?
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Health & Illness
Research on marriage trends suggests a U- shaped pattern of marital stability: marriages contracted in the early to mid twenties had lower divorce rates than those taking place before or after those ages. Do the patterns of the 1960s hold today? If they do, the present trend towards increasingly older ages at entry into marriage would be expected to be accompanied by higher levels of marital instability. This study examines this question, with particular focus on the case of women.
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce
A new report, “The Taxpayer Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing: First-Ever Estimates for the Nation and all 50 States”, raises the question of how much divorce costs taxpayers. This is an intriguing question, but unfortunately this report falls short on providing the answer. In the worst traditions of “advocacy science” the authors pick […]
Topics of Expertise: Couples Conflict, Separation & Divorce / Economic Inequality / Fertility,Reproduction & Sexual Health / Gender & Sexuality / Marriage & Divorce / TANF & Public Assistance
Willa Cather Professor & Chair of Communication Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Curators' Professor Emerita of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Missouri
Associate Professor, Department of Family Science & Human Development, Montclair State University
Psychologist & Marriage and Family Therapist
PhD Professor and Co-Chair of the College of Environmental Science, University of Missouri
Clinical Director, Perelman School of Medicine, Dept of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
Assistant Professor of Communication and Department Coordinator, Minot State University
Assistant Professor, Illinois State University
Professor, Department of Sociology & Population Studies Center, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Director of Sedona Counselling Centre of Montreal, Psychotherapist, Author, Divorce Recovery Expert
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University Medical School; Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, Boston Medical Center; American Family Therapy Academy; Boston Center for Culturally Affirming Practices
Professor of Family & Consumer Studies and Adjunct Professor of Sociology, University of Utah
