I am teaching a course on Marriage and Family and a student said, "Why get married if there is a 50% chance I will get divorced?"
What is lost in the figure often cited is the real story.
Did you know that if you graduate from high school you have a lower chance of divorce than if you don't.
If you go to college then it goes down. If you graduate it goes down. If you get a graduate degree it goes down.
If you are religious it goes down.
Other factors that lower your chance of divorce are:
Being the same religion, being middle class or above, getting married after age 21, getting married by choice (rather than due to pregnancy), going to premarital counseling or taking a course on marriage, not smoking and drinking.
If you remove those that are at the low end of the socioeconomic range then the actual change of getting a divorce is more in the 20% - 25% range. Then with the other factors it can be reduced to less than 15%. And that is for the whole population that fit those criteria.
Some people think their chances of staying married are about as good as winning the lottery. That is definitely not the case
I had no idea the statistics were that drastically different, but I like it! Good for you sharing your wealth of knowledge with the masses. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!! I heard on Good Things Utah the other morning that if you are a woman in the military, your divorce rate goes up 250%. YIKES!! BUT if you marry a rancher or a farmer, the rate is only 7%. How cool. Marry somebody from Idaho. (Lisa)
ReplyDeleteYeah, Duane, I just had a class this spring...Family Relations... I found it fascinating. We ALL need to take your class and figure out a few details BEFORE or DURING our marriage. Good stuff!
Love, J