According to the United States Census Bureau, marriage and divorce rates are in a bit of a flux throughout the nation — although there are regional variances.
A look back over the ten-year period between 2008 and 2018 reveals the following statistics:
- National marriage rates have fallen somewhat significantly. In 2008, roughly 17.9 women out of every thousand who were 15 years of age and older could expect to marry. By 2018, that figure dropped to 16.6 per thousand.
- National divorce rates have also dropped. In 2008, 10.5 percent of women in the same age range could expect to get a divorce. By 2018, that figure had dropped greatly, to just 7.7 per thousand.
- Minnesota is close to the national average on both counts. Marriage rates in 2018 were 16.9 per thousand women, while divorces fell to only 7.1 per thousand.
Does that make you outside of the norm if you’re seeking a divorce? Hardly. Divorce rates gradually increased over decades past thanks to a growing awareness that divorce was not only acceptable but necessary to end unhappy marriages — for everyone involved. Changes in the independence of women, who have more economic power than they once did, also made divorces easier to obtain and plumped up the rates.
What’s likely happening now is a result of those same societal shifts. Divorces are going down because marriages are going down. Marriages are happening less frequently because people are increasingly conscious that they don’t have to get married to meet societal approval or gain financial stability. Couples are pickier about who they marry — which means that they may simply wait longer to marry in the first place or make better choices in their mates.
No matter how carefully you chose your spouse, you can’t anticipate everything. If you’re unhappy in your marriage, you aren’t alone. Find out what it takes to get your freedom.
