Global Divorce Rate Statistics
- A Closer Look

The global divorce rate statistics reveal that many marriages are collapsing at a faster rate nowadays compared to a decade or two previously. What could be responsible for this? Is this a by-product of civilization, of modernity? Are humans getting more independent nowadays than in the days of their forefathers?

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Therefore, this article examines the current divorce rate in some selected places across the globe in detail. In the same vein, this article further xrays the extraneous and underlying factors responsible for this unhealthy trend.

Finally, based on the factors responsible for divorce which are identified in the article, some practical and result-oriented solutions are proffered as a lasting panacea to the worrisome problem.

Global Divorce Rate Statistics Analysis

Let us begin by looking at the divorce rate statistics in some countries across the globe.

United States of America

According to one online reference resource, the current divorce rate in the United States of America show that "50% of all marriages in the United States end in divorce." Continuing, the same reference states that, 64.2% of American women who got married before the age of 25 end up in divorce, while for women who got married between the ages of 25 and 35, 24.9% end up in divorce. On the other hand, only 10.9% of women who married above 35yrs of age end up in divorce.

As for their male counterpart in the United States, the rate of divorce further reveal that American men who married between the ages of below age 20 and 25, 50.5% of them end up going through divorce.

Similarly, among men who got married between the ages of 25 and 35, 33.9% end up in divorce. On the other hand, only 15.1% of men who married above the age of 35 end up in divorce.

In the same vein, 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.

This report show that the saying "once bitten, twice shy" does not hold true in all cases. Thus, going through a previous divorce is no guarantee that the next marriage will be successful.

It might seem from the above analysis of the divorce rate statistics in the United States that age and maturity play a role in the propensity of divorce in that country because a large chunk of the divorce rate is among couples who married below the age of 25.

Another factor which has been found to be responsible for divorce is childlessness. According to discovery channel, couples with children have a slightly lower rate of divorce than childless couples. "Sociologists believe that childlessness is also a common cause of divorce (in the United States). The absence of children leads to loneliness and weariness and even in the United States, at least 66 per cent of all divorced couples are childless."

Canada

According to a report by Tim Rotheisler (Alberta Report, August 4, 1997), http://albertareport.com/24arcopy/24a34cpy/2434ar03.htm, "Since the introduction of "no-fault divorce" in Canada 30 years ago, the rate of marital break-up has soared 600%. A third of marriages fail, and over a third of those break-ups involve children. One-fifth of Canadian children have lost a parent to divorce, with an effect that some sociologists now say can be "worse than a parent's death."

Divorce is consistently associated with juvenile emotional disorders, crime, suicide, promiscuity and later marital break-up." reports "The push for 'high-octane' marriages: An American state rolls back the divorce revolution by re-establishing life-long covenants."

Most divorces happened after three years of marriage, when 26.2 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce, and statisticians said it appeared the risk of divorce declined slightly with each passing year of marriage.

United Kingdom

According to divorcerate.org, the divorce rate in the UK has been rising steadily since the '80s. The online reference resource continues: "There were 160,000 divorces in England and Wales in 2002, an increase of almost 2% from 2001 figure of 157,000. In seven out of 10 cases, it was the first divorce. So 70% divorce in UK are first divorce. The average age at which couples split in UK is 42 for men and 39 for women. Half the couples who divorced have at least one child aged under 16."

Divorce rates have risen over the last two decade since falling back from the level reached in 1996, the Office of National Statistics said. The total number of divorces in England and Wales last year was 153,490, working out at 13.9 divorces per 1,000 married people. This rose from 13.4 in 2008.

In almost seven out of 10 cases, the divorce was the first for both husband and wife. The average age at which couples split is increasing, at almost 42 for men and 39-and-a-half for women. Couples are also staying together for slightly longer, with the average up from 11.1 years in 2002 to 11.3 years before they part company.

Just over half the couples who divorced last year had at least one child aged under 16. More than 150,000 children were in families where the parents divorced last year and a fifth of those were under five.

Another culprit which was identified in the high incidence of divorce rate in the UK is Web romance. BBC NEWS reported August 31, 2004 "Web Romance fuels divorce rise in UK".

According to the Telegraph.co.uk, "... Men and women between the ages of 25 and 29 continued to have the highest divorce rates - at around 29 per 1,000 married couples, it is twice the average...."

New Zealand

Statistics New Zealand says "... marriages are lasting slightly longer, despite divorce statistics rising slightly over the past decade. The median duration of marriages ending in divorce in 2004 was 13.3 years, compared with 12.4 years a decade ago. But divorce statistics show that one third of New Zealanders who married in 1979 had divorced before they got to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary in 2004."

One quarter of all divorces in 2004 were to couples who had been married five to nine years. (Reported Kiwis waiting longer to get married, TVNZ - New Zealand May 16, 2005, http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_national_story_skin/554020?format=html)

Russia

Russians appear to be the quickest to marry out of all the citizens of countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, a UNICEF report has found (by Nabi Abdullaev, cited in a posting on Smart Marriages Listserv, Dec. 8, 2004). According to the report, an average of seven couples get married in Russia each year per 1,000 people - more than double the rate in Georgia, which has just three weddings per 1,000 people.

But Russians are also the most likely to get divorced, with a record six couples per 1,000 people getting divorced in 2002, or 83 percent of the marriage rate. Next in the divorce stakes are Estonians (almost 70 percent), while the lowest divorce rate among the countries surveyed is in Tajikistan (7 percent).

The number of divorces increased 38.2 percent in Russia in the first quarter of 2007 versus the corresponding period in 2008 and reached 224,300 (as compared to 186,100 in the first quarter of 2007). The number of marriages went up 12.5 percent, from 192,200 in the first quarter of 2007 to 204,700 in the corresponding period 2008, the State Statistics Committee reported. This means that the number of divorces surpassed the number of marriages by 19,600 from January to March 2008. In the first quarter of 2007, the number of marriages was 6,100 more than that of divorces.

Africa

What about the current divorce rate in Africa?

Information from the Department of Statistics of South Africa show that the number of registered marriages has generally been increasing over the last ten years (1999–2008). In 1999, 140,458 marriages were registered. This number had increased to 186,522 in 2008 showing an annual increase of 2,9% since 1999. The 2008 186,522 shows an increase of 3,492 (1,9%) from 183 030 marriages recorded in 2007.

The distribution of couples divorcing by population group shows that there were more divorces among the African population group compared to the other groups. Despite the general fluctuations, the proportions of divorces from the mixed and the African groups have been increasing whilst that of the White group has been declining in the past ten years.

In 1999 the African, Indian/Asian, White and mixed groups made up 18,4%; 5,3%; 39,9% and 1,0% of the number of divorces respectively. However, in 2008 the contribution of the African, Indian/Asian and mixed groups increased to 35,0%; 6,2% and 3,1% respectively whilst that of the White group declined to 32,8%.

Despite the above divorce statistics in South Africa, it was found that couples who divorced spent a long time together - the median duration of marriage in 2008 being 9 years - unlike in the UK where irst two years of marriages have the highest divorce rates in the UK. Additionally, the largest number of divorces (7,859 or 27,2%) lasted five to nine years.

This group is followed by marriages that lasted less than five years (6 143 or 21,2%). Thus, almost half (48,4%) of the 28 924 divorces in 2008 were from marriages that lasted less than 10 years. As the duration of marriages increased the number of divorces decreased. Irrespective of the population group of the divorcees, the distribution of divorces continues to be skewed towards earlier years of marriage.

The cases of divorce in Morocco has dropped drastically by 40% within the last decade. This drop is attributed to their Family Code which was passed into law by the House of Representatives. The Minister claimed that this has had a positive impact on marriages in Morocco.

Other parts of Africa similarly reveal a slightly lower divorce rate than the ones shown above.

The reasons that have been adduced for the seemingly lower rate of divorce in Africa than in the UK and elsewhere are as follows:

1. marriage is seen as a lifetime commitment, thus couples are very reluctant to leave no matter the myriad of problems they may be having;

2. strongly-entrenched extended family ties who are called upon to assist the couple in resolving whatever problems they may be having;

3. inter-communal existence of folks in a neighbourhood - in other words, everyone has got everyone's back; thus you find neighbours, relatives and friends offering words of advice, often unsolicited, to the couple about whatever problem they may be having;

4. there is often the mistaken notion that all African men are born cheats or cannot be sexually faithful to their women, perhaps as a result of the widespread acceptance of polygamy; thus, women are reluctant to leave their men even when they are guilty of marital infidelity;

5. single parenting is not encouraged in Africa and where this is inevitable, the children eventually search out the other parent when they are of age.

Nepal

According to Nepal News, in its news report with the headline "Divorce rate growing in Kathmandu, Nepal", Cases of divorce are growing in Kathmandu as a result of growing domestic violence and social-economic problems.

Attempting to dissect the root cause of divorce from a sociological point of view, Chandra Kanta Gyawali, a sociologist and a lawyer, said, "It primarily depends on how the couples were socialized in the society before they got married. It is the environment in which they grew up that decides their mindset. And, if their way of thinking differs, it ends up in a split."

Another resource person, Basanti Shrestha, an advocate at the Legal Aid and Consultancy Center (LACC), points out that "Domestic violence is the major cause behind growing divorce rate".

China

On September 13, 2005 the the BBC News, Shanghai reported: "China booms, so does divorce rate". "The rules of love, and separation, are changing in China. Until recently divorce was rare in the communist state. ... Small wonder then that the divorce rate jumped by a fifth last year. ..If both parties [in an unhappy couple] agree - the divorce will be issued in only ten minutes, for as little as 65 pence ($1)." (Quentin Sommerville's report was shown on Newsnight on 13 September, 2005 on BBC Two.)

Korea

Korea witnessed 143.922 divorce cases in 2007, 18 percent less than in 2006. Infidelity was the main reason cited in lawsuits instituted in the country, accounting for 46.1 percent of the total. Couples in their 30s made up the biggest group seeking a divorce, with 46.2 percent of men and 40.8 percent of women. Some 65.2 percent had been married for less than five years.

One reason for the decline seems to be that fewer people get married in the first place. The National Statistical Office said the number of marriages fell from 334,030 in 2000 to 304,932 in 2003 before seeing a slight increase to 310,944 in 2004. And there has not been a significant increase in the rate of divorce since that time.

A cooling-off programme piloted by the Seoul Family Court since March of that year was also attributed to the decline. Lee Myeong-sook, a lawyer, said the programme, which requires couples who file for divorce to take time to reconsider, may have helped reduce divorce cases where couples wanted to split in a fit of anger.

A judge in the Family Courts offered another explanation, saying improved economic conditions also reduced divorces. "Some couples hesitate to get divorced because the government's real-estate policies make it hard to sell their home so they can split the money and go their separate ways," the judge said.

Causes of High Incidence of Divorce

Let us now examine the underlying factors responsible for the high rate of divorce in some places across the globe.

A major reason responsible for divorce is that people marry those who are not their friends. I personally feel that couples would fair better if they marry their best friend. Marrying one's best friend will contribute greatly to resolving majority of the problems associated with marriage (see more on this in the page Marry Your Best Friend!).

Another reason for the increased rate of divorce, as reflected in the above divorce rate statistics, is due to external pressures and interference from family, friends and colleagues of the couple. When couples allow outsiders to interfer in their marital affairs, there is bound to be problems. For details about this, please see the page Why Relationships Fail.

In simple terms, therefore, married couples go through divorce because the parties to the marriage no longer wish to respect and fulfill their marital vows made on the marriage day. But, personally, l do not feel that couples who truly love and cherish themselves as best of friends need the legally binding formality of swearing to the marriage oath for them to stay faithful and committed to each other.

As far as l am concerned, the marriage oath is an unnecessary ritualistic formality! It does not in any way guarantee marriage fidelity or prevent marriage failure, neither does it mandatorily compel married couples who are bent on breaking up to stay together when they have become resolute to stay apart.

Practical Measures to Avoid Divorce

There are bound to be conflicts in marriage. After all, it is a union of two imperfect human beings from totally different backgrounds. Cultural, religious and tribal differences are bound to shape and impact on their mindset, approach to issues and the opinions they individually hold.

While it is sound advice for couples intending to get married to marry their best friend, these persons are still imperfect in every respect. So, it may even happen that your best friend will hurt you at some time. But, how does he or she respond to it when it is pointed out to him or her?

That, in my candid opinion, is the fundamental reason why majority of conflicts ensue in marriages. (For details on the practical measures to adopt on resolving marital conflicts where they occur, please see the following web page: Resolving Marital Conflicts)

To this end, some practical and workable measures that can be adopted by couples to avoid divorce are as follows:

• Persons intending to get married should by all means possible identify and marry their best friends.



• Couples intending to get married should endeavour to marry persons of like minds as they themselves.



• Couples should attain a reasonable age before embarking on marriage. Though age alone is not the only parameter to measure maturity, the older a person gets the more likely the person is to see issues in a mature light. Thus, couples should be older than 25yrs of age before they get married - preferably 27yrs of age for the woman and 32yrs of age for the man.



• Childless couples should try and adopt children as a ready-made alternative, if childbearing has become unduly prolonged and it has become a source of anxieties and worries in the family. (For information on how to overcome the challenges, the Sadness and pains that childlessness presents in marriage, please see the internet classic: Childless Married Couples - The Sadness And Pains They Endure... And How to Overcome Them)



• There should be stiffer or stringent legislation to prevent easy divorce on the flimsiest grounds. Governments of the world should consider promulgating legislation like the one in Korea where couples hesitate to get divorced because the government's real-estate policies make it hard to sell their home so they can split the money and go their separate ways.



• Though couples cannot be compelled to remain in a loveless and unhappy marriage against their wish, governments should render all the assistance necessary for troubled couples to go for professional counselling. Thus, government should provide free marriage counselling centres properly equipped with marriage counsellors to assist couples to resolve their marital conflicts.



• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can institute programmes like the one piloted by the Seoul Family Court in Korea where couples who file for divorce are required to take time to reconsider their decision and given all the necessary help to avoid the divorce, if at all possible.



• While relations and friends of the couple may provide assistance where necessary, they should refrain from mounting unnecessary pressure on the couple in order not to cause any strain and tension in their marriage.



• Couples should stick together as one, lean on to each other for emotional support through good and bad times. They should see each other as good friends - better still, as best friends - and confidants. Hence, they should endeabour to communicate and share their day-to-day experiences that they go through on a daily basis as often as practically possible.



• Married couples should refrain from taking each other for granted.



• Divorce has been identified as the major culprit in cases of juvenile emotional disorders, crime, suicide, promiscuity and later marital break-up. So, before going through with a divorce process, estranged couples should reflect on the negative effects that the divorce action would have on the overall mental and socio-physiological development of their children.

As painful as suing for a divorce is, it is indisputable that there are times when considering it as an option becomes distressingly inevitable. However, suing for divorce should be seen as last resort. This is due to the fact that children suffer most in the event of any break up between married couples - as the above divorce rate statistics has made abundantly clear.

Certainly, no parent would want to be accused of being a bad parent. lt is my sincere hope that married couples reflect on the negative effects that going through with a divorce action would have on their children.

Thus, all efforts should be made to avoid divorce by married couples at all costs; and all attempts should be made to resolve any conflicts in the union.

lt is my sincere desire that when the above recommendations are implemented to the letter, it would go a long way to reduce the high rate of divorce statistics worldwide.

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