Divorce rate the lowest in 26 years, but over 60s divorce rate up

It seems it is only the super rich A-list celebrities who are running to the divorce courts, data from the National Statistics Office show that in England and Wales divorce decreased in 2007. In 2006 there were 12.2 divorces per 1,000 married men, and in 2007 there were only 11.9 divorces per 1,000 married men. The worse year was 1993 when 14 divorces per 1,000 married men took place. Last year was the fourth consecutive decrease in the divorce rate.

Looking back at the records it is the lowest for 26 years, a lot of people suggest it’s because couples are marrying a lot later in life and generally wiser. It’s more common now for couples to get married in their 30s, and have experienced other relationships.

Some experts say one reason why the divorce rate has decreased is simply couples cannot afford to get divorced due to the credit crunch, they are unable to sell the marital home and are having to stay together as they have no other choice, and they feel more pressured into trying to make the marriage work as they have too much to lose.

What’s very surprising about the statistics is that the only group, who had an increase in divorce rate, last year, was the over-60s. Last year alone there were 13,678 divorces among the over-60s, compared to the 2006 figure of 12,636.

According to the United States Bureau of the Census, just under 2.2 million senior citizens are divorced in the US, this is a rise of more than a third over the last decade, and it seems it’s a global phenomenon.

Men and women in the late 20’s in the UK had the highest divorce rate of all the groups, it’s said that 28.8 men divorced out of every 1,000.

Divorces involving children under the age of 16 came to 117,193 in 2007, 20 percent of these children were under 5 years old.

In the gay community the number of dissolutions was recorded for the first time, there were 28 female couples, and 14 male couples. The Civil Partnerships were introduced in December 2005 and 18,059 gay couples took advantage of the new law, last year there were 8,728 civil partnerships. It’s been suggested that the gay community will have less divorces as they have had to fight so long for the right of a civil partnership, and generally they would think longer and harder before they decide to tie the knot with their partner.

Source: timesonline

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