Divorce Trends

Question 1

In which year did divorce rate stabilise after increasing throughout the 20th century?

Answer 1

1994

Question 2

What percentage of marriages end in divorce according to recent studies?

Answer 2

40% (approx)

Question 3

Which decades witnessed the largest increase in divorce?

Answer 3

1960s - 1980s

Question 4

What was the divorce rate in 1961 and what was it in 1995?

Answer 4

1961: 2.1 (ie. 2 approx)
1995: 13.1 (ie. 13 approx)

Question 5

In 2011, how did the divorce rates compare to the marriage rates?

Answer 5

Divorce rate: 10.8 (ie. 11 approx)

Marriage rate: 8.7 (ie. 9 approx)

Question 6

In 2011, the number of divorces in England and Wales decreased by what percentage?

Answer 6

2% (approx) - bear in mind this is consistent with a decrease in marriages from 2009

Question 7

In 2011, what percentage of divorces were couples where both parties were in their first marriage and what percentage of divorces were couples where one or both parties had been previously married?

Answer 7

70% (divorces - both parties in first-time marriage)

30% (divorces - one or both parties in remarriage)

Question 8

In current years, what percentage of divorces are petitioned for by women?

Answer 8

70% +

Question 9

Why did divorce stabilise in 1994?

Answer 9

• less people were marrying and more were co-habiting which ends/ filters some relationships

Question 10

In 2011, there were higher divorce rates than marriage rates, what were these figures used to suggest?

Answer 10

• suggests that the institution of marriage is in decline and that it is no longer valued

Question 11

Why should divorce statistics be treated with caution and assessed against legal, financial and social circumstances?

Answer 11

• so that misleading conclusions about the declining importance of marriage are avoided

Question 12

What actually might increasing divorce statistics reflect about society instead of there being an increase in the number of marital breakdowns?

Answer 12

• it may simply reflect a decline in the stigma attached to divorce and easier and cheaper divorce proceedings enabling the legal termination of already unhappy marriages

Question 13

What will we never know? (in regards to dysfunctional relationships/ empty shell marriages)

Answer 13

• how many dysfunctional relationships/ empty shell marriages there existed before divorce was made easier

Question 14

What will we never know? (in regards to dysfunctional relationships/ empty shell marriages)

Answer 14

• how many dysfunctional relationships/ empty shell marriages there existed before divorce was made easier

Question 15

Why is divorce no longer increasing?

Answer 15

• there are fewer marriages - as a result of secularisation and increased financial stability for both partners, co-habitation is also more common meaning these couples may never marry or may split up so they don’t contribute to a divorce statistic

Question 16

How does an increase in divorce not indicate an increase in the number of marital breakdowns?

Answer 16

• we can never know how many breakdowns there were before divorce was cheaper and easier so it’s very possible that many couples chose to endure empty shell marriages for fear of being shunned but this stigma has ended so they feel free to end these marriages

Question 17

Do you think the number of empty shell marriages will have increased or decreased in modern times?

Answer 17

• believe it will have decreased as a higher proportion of these marriages can now be ended more easily and no longer have to continue

Question 18

How may statistics on remarriage underestimate the number of couples who have long term relationships after divorce?

Answer 18

• statistics on remarriage don’t account for the number of long term relationships after divorce which don’t end in remarriage and so aren’t documented accurately and so may be underestimated

Question 19

What are the three factors likely to influence the likelihood of divorce?

Answer 19

• year of marriage
• age at marriage
• whether married before