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Divorce Rate at Lowest Level in over 35 Years

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Nov 18, 2016

Divorce rates are at the lowest they have been in over 35 years, according to a study conducted by a university research center in Ohio.

The Christian Examiner reports that the study, conducted by the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, found that the divorce rate is now at its lowest level since 1980.

Although many sources make the claim that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” researchers with the study found that this just isn’t true.

The divorce rate has been dropping steadily in recent years. In 2014, the divorce rate was 17.6 divorces per one thousand married people, but dropped to 16.9 in 2015. In 1980, it was 23 per 1,000.

The study also looked at what states had the highest and lowest divorce rates. Alaska, Arkansas, Nevada, Wyoming, and Washington D.C. topped the list of states with highest divorce rates, while Hawaii, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Delaware, and New Jersey had the lowest.

Although divorce rates are dropping, the study found that couples today are getting married when they are older compared to past years.

Despite the divorce rate going down, in 2015, 1,110,579 women still reportedly got divorced.

Marriage rates have also increased and rose from 31.9 per thousand in 2014 to 32.3 per thousand in 2015. This is still 44 points below what the marriage rate was in 1980, however.

 

Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com

Publication date: November 18, 2016