The frequency of divorce among people over 50 has risen to record heights, according to a recent survey from the Pew Research Center.
From 1990 to 2015, divorce rates among Americans aged 50 and older more than doubled. For Americans over 65, divorce rates nearly tripled within that same period. Now, 10 out of every 1,000 married people over 50 get divorced, while six out of every 1,000 married people over 65 end their marriages.
According to Pew, this is due largely to the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, which saw what it calls “unprecedented levels of divorce” during the 1970s and 1980s. Researchers found that Baby Boomers’ “marital instability earlier in life is contributing to the rising divorce rate among adults ages 50 and older today, since remarriages tend to be less stable than first marriages… The divorce rate for adults ages 50 and older in remarriages is double the rate of those who have only been married once.”
Divorces still more common among younger people
Younger people still get divorced at much higher rates than their older counterparts, however. Approximately 24 of every 1,000 married people between the ages of 25 and 39 got divorced in 2015. However, the divorce rates among younger people are steadily falling — that number was as high as 30 out of 1,000 at the beginning of the 1990s. The divorce rate overall is also declining across the United States, making the older demographic the only age group for which divorce is becoming more common.
People going through divorce later in life must factor in considerations such as retirement age and accounts, investments and other assets gained over a long period of time. For the dependable advice you need, work with a skilled Minnesota divorce attorney at Appelhof, Pfeifer & Hart, P.A.
