Engaging in risky behavior

Written on September 20, 2007 by David C. Sarnacki

USAToday reports on census data detailing marriage and divorce statistics.

Sharon Jayson writes (excerpt):
More than 70% of those who married since 1970 celebrated a 10th anniversary.

That statistic — one of many released Wednesday by the U.S. Census — shows that divorce itself has stabilized in recent decades, neither rising nor falling significantly. But experts say the longitudinal information also suggests divorce remains a threat throughout married life.

“People are at risk of divorce throughout their marriages. That risk probably peaks in years 5 through 10,” says Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University.
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Stephanie Coontz, a professor of history and family studies at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and author of the 2005 book Marriage: A History, says it’s “questionable” that marriages of the Ozzie-and-Harriet era were any more stable than those today. In the ’50s, “divorce was harder to get, and there were fewer economic options outside marriage,” she says.

Posted in Relationships