It is no secret that the number of marriages that end in divorce is always a high number. For this reason, settling down and getting married can be a little bit scary if you fear whether or not you and your partner might be part of the percentage of marriages that end in divorce. There is no way to say with certainty whether or not a marriage will end, so you have to put hope in the marriage. It takes hard word, dedication, commitment, communication and a multitude of other things to keep a marriage together.
Sometimes, nothing can hold a marriage together. No matter what is attempted or what is done, the two people decide they need an attorney because they want to file. In these cases, a lawyer who practices family law can help the two settle and finalize their divorce. Currently, in the United States, one occurs every 36 seconds. At the end of the year, there are nearly 876,000 filed.
So, how many marriages end in divorce today in the United States? Who most often files – men or women? Do people tend to remarry? How long does it take to move on from the divorce and find someone new? These are all interesting questions that many people probably want the answers to whether or not they have been through a marriage or divorce of their own. Keep reading to learn some interesting tidbits about marriages and divorces in the United States.
1. How long are marriages that end today?
Statistics show that, on average, a marriage that ends lasts somewhere around eight to nine years according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This shows that many times people try to make the marriage work. It may be a successful marriage for nearly a decade before a couple decides they need to seek counseling or go straight toward divorce. Either way, avoiding marriage out of fear of potential divorce is not the best thing to do.
2. What age ranges are more likely to divorce?
It probably is not surprising that the younger you are, the more likely you will get divorce. If you are under 20 and you get married, you have the highest likelihood that your marriage will end in a divorce. There is more than a 1.5 likelihood for those under 20 than other 20-24. If you wait until after age 25 to get married, your chances for divorce decrease.
3. Do women or men tend to file first?
Women tend to file for a dissolving of the marriage sooner than men do. In fact, in the United States, two-thirds of divorces are filed by women in comparison to men.
4. What is the likelihood for remarriage and a potential second end to a marriage?
The likelihood for remarriage depends on many different variables. For instance, if it is your first marriage, there is a 40-50 percent chance you will get divorced. If you marry again, the chance increases to 60 percent that you may get divorced again.
Additionally, women tend to start dating sooner than men. So, it is more likely that they will get serious with another partner and get married sooner than men will. The average time span for women is 3.1 years before their next marriage. For men, the average is 3.3 years after the end of a marriage before they get married again. This does not mean that all, or even the majority, of people who go through a divorce get remarried in the future. Some decide that marriage is not for them, and they do not plan on getting married again.
Although there are nearly 2,400 divorces every day in the United States, this does not mean you should avoid marriage altogether. It is impossible to say whether or not your marriage will end in a break up. You should not hold back in life out of fear of a potential end to your marriage.
Have you ever been divorced or had to deal with the legal side of these situations? Let us know in the comments how you have dealt with the process.