The reason why the divorce rate is decreasing in the U.S. and other facts about breakups and separations

Divorce has long been a familiar part of American life, but recent research shows that the tide is quietly turning. According to the latest findings from the Pew Research Center, the rate of divorce in the United States has been gradually declining over the past few decades.

The numbers may still sound high (more than 1.8 million Americans divorced in 2023) but that figure represents a significantly smaller share of the population than in previous generations.

The downturn in divorce rates has its roots in several social shifts, most notably changes in how and when people marry. In the 1990s, the divorce rate was at its peak, with nearly five divorces for every 1,000 people. Since then, it has fallen to just over three per 1,000.

This steady decline is partly down to the fact that Americans are getting married later in life, with research consistently showing that couples who marry in their late twenties or thirties tend to have more stable unions.

Younger marriages, once the norm, are now the exception, most likely due to rising costs in an ever-tighter economy. Fewer people are marrying overall, which naturally reduces the number of relationships that might end in divorce.

Still, in today’s society, divorce is far from rare. Around one in three adults who have ever been married say they have gone through a divorce, and many of them eventually remarry. Roughly two-thirds of divorced Americans choose to marry again, creating blended families and more complex household structures.

The decline in divorce has not been uniform across age groups: older Americans are an exception to the overall trend. So-called “grey divorce”, marriages ending among people aged fifty and above, has become more common since the 1990s, even as younger couples split less often.

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Despite the falling rates, the effects of divorce remain significant. It continues to influence living arrangements, the economy, and social patterns, from the growth of single-parent households to the rise of cohabitation without marriage.

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