Four Surprising Facts About Divorce

Divorce in the U.S. is a common occurrence. What some people might believe are its causes or outcomes are just misconceptions. Here are four unexpected facts about divorce that you might not know:

1. Expensive weddings are associated with an increased likelihood of divorce

Andrew Francis-Tan and Hugo Mialon, researchers at Sacramento State University, conducted a study investigating the association between wedding spending and marriage duration. Based on the 3,000 married people in their research, the results suggested that spending more money on the wedding correlated with shorter marriages.

2. Women with more sexual partners before marriage are more likely to stay married

Nicholas Wolfinger, a University of Utah professor, studied couples who got married between 2000 and 2009. He found that women who had had only one or no sexual partner before their husband were more likely to divorce than women with three to nine previous partners.

3. Children of divorce are no more likely to split

Constance Gager published a 2015 study in Marriage & Family Review about children and divorce. Adults who were children when their parents fought and then divorced were less likely to divorce than adults whose parents fought but stayed together. Gager’s study called into question the common belief that children of divorce tend to have failed marriages themselves. One possible takeaway is that children of contentious but intact marriages might grow up with unhealthy views about conflict.

4. Divorce among older adults has increased

The Journals of Gerontology published a study analyzing data from more than a million people 50 and older between 1990 and 2010. Although the overall divorce rate in the US declined over the same period, the number of divorces among people over 50 doubled.

Cincinnati Divorce Lawyers Here to Help

If you have any questions about getting a divorce or want to learn about your rights under family law, you can contact Donnellon, Donnellon & Miller at 513-891-7087. You’ll find our main Cincinnati office at 9079 Montgomery Road. We have a team of experienced and compassionate attorneys who can help.