Baby Boomer Divorce: What Accounts For The Rise?

foxbusiness.com:

Whatever happened to "til death do us part"?

My wife and I will celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary this month and we are still best friends. But that isn't the norm nowadays.

A few weeks ago we learned friends of ours who had been married for 32 years were heading to divorce court; he was having an affair with his secretary and his wife had no idea.

The divorce rate among boomers has jumped recently and that number is only expected to climb. Statistics from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University show that despite the overall divorce rate in the U.S. dropping over the last 20 years, the divorce rate among people age 50 and over has doubled.

Read the whole story: foxbusiness.com

Comments

[Darla Kay]

06:13 PM on 08/18/2011

I have always heard that a person should never assume that they will spend the rest of their life with their spouse until they have been married for at least thirty years. Apparently that is no longer the case. http://awdivorceutah.com/family-law/divorce/

[lecturenotes2]

11:25 AM on 07/03/2011

Being born from 1948 to 1968, most people of the "Baby Boom" era do not look as old as the couple in the picture of this artcle. Today those people are age 63 to 43.

[TheParson]

03:10 AM on 06/30/2011

Large juicy retirement assets of the husband, waiting to be plundered....
Rape away, ladies!

[Erinaleks]

07:52 PM on 06/28/2011

I think something is in the water

[Kelley Smith]

05:04 PM on 06/28/2011

Wow, I can only imagine what the social pressure must have been like to force the first couples into marriage. Think of the scene from "Roots" when the actor had to say Toby. That is what it must have been like. Seems like that today!

[playsindirt]

10:50 AM on 06/24/2011

I think that once the kids are grown and gone many boomers realize that there's really no reason to stay together. Women no longer need marriage to have children or financial security for life. If each spouse works and can provide themselves with a nice life, why be attached to someone they no longer find attractive or they no longer love? In a two-income relationship, who benefits more from marriage - the man or the woman?

[TheParson]

07:09 PM on 06/23/2011

Men, watch out! That little old lady is high on HRT and will drop kick you to the kerb after getting your house, bank account and retirement!

[dancinggrandma]

11:20 PM on 06/23/2011

I divorced at 60 to a man who'd refused to work for years even though my income was quite modest. He walked with all the retirement & a six-figure sum which I had to take out of the home equity. I'll be repaying this til I'm 80, have no retirement, but I haven't been this happy in three decades. Times have changed, Parson.

[dubbleplusgood]

05:51 PM on 06/23/2011

Why is there more divorce today?

Options. Woman have more options then ever. Just because there was once less divorce, doesn't mean many of those marriages were healthy. Many women wanted to leave their husbands but society and finances prevented them from following through. Now, if you want a lasting, rewarding marriage, maturity and communication are essential because social stigmas are no longer enough.

[lotus321]

05:34 PM on 06/23/2011

I think this institution is slowly becoming less important and people are less willing to sacrifice for anyone else. Also, women no longer need marriage and most men don't benefit from it either.

[simplystunned]

10:43 PM on 06/23/2011

Hate to burst your bubble - but study after study in the last few years show that men benefit more from marriage than women.

Statistically, when spouses die, widows tend to fair better than widowers in health and longevity.

[Icecube]

10:20 AM on 06/25/2011

This I gotta hear!! How do men benefit from marriage?

Pls give tangible evidence.

[Kelley Smith]

05:05 PM on 06/28/2011

I have heard of this study, but do not believe it. If this research were true would not men like it?