Family Law FAQs

Divorce Statistics

Divorce Statistics

• According to recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, about 2.5 million people get divorced each year.
  
  
• First marriages that end in divorce last an average of eleven years, according to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Subsequent marriages that end in divorce last an average of only seven years.
  
  
• The NCHS records also indicate that the average age of women divorcing for the first time is thirty-three; for men, it is thirty-five.
  
  
• The average age of women divorcing for the second time is thirty-nine, and for men it is forty-two, the NCHS report states.
  
  
• The NCHS reports that numbers of married couples divorcing are highest among men ages thirty to thirty-four and women ages twenty-five to twenty-nine, but divorce rates (or the percentage of total married couples divorcing) are highest for men ages twenty to twenty-four and women ages fifteen to nineteen.
  
  
• The NCHS reports that divorce rates range from 2.7 per 1,000 people in Massachusetts to 10.8 per 1,000 in Nevada
  
  
• Nearly 75 percent of all custody awards are made to the mother. About 10 percent of awards are made to fathers, and the rest involve joint custody arrangements, says the NCHS.
  
  
• According to the Census Bureau, parents who owe child support are more likely to pay the ordered support if they either share custody of or have visitation rights with their children.
  
  
• Recent Census Bureau statistics also indicate that nearly 40 percent of all non-custodial fathers have no access to or visitation rights with their children.

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