5 ms·

> ... the divorce rate as a ratio of divorces to the total number of married women. So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages.

> ... the divorce rate as a ratio of divorces to the total number of married women. So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages. Cool that they ruled that out, that was my knee-jerk assumption. > Young people get the credit for fewer divorces because boomers have continued to divorce at unusually high rates, all the way into their 60s and 70s.

ddebernardy 8y ago
If I'm not mistaking, the rub is almost a footnote at the very end of the article: > They’re living together, and often raising kids together, but deciding not to tie the knot. And studies have shown these cohabiting relationships are less stable [0] than they used to be. [0]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712741/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712741/
- PurpleBoxDragon 8y ago
  So in a way divorce rates are going up if you don't stick to the technical definition of a divorce as the end of a legal status and instead look at the breakup of family unit instead? It seems part a word game because I doubt those looking at the statistics ever really cared much about marriages or divorces for what they represent on a purely legal level, but for their approximation of cohabitation and family status.
romed 8y ago
Yeah everybody always skips right over Gen X ... The NYT covered divorce in a better article with a better graph four years ago[1]. The life lesson here is that the things Boomers say are going to happen to other generations are actually going to happen to them instead. They said we were all getting divorced but that was them not us. They said that video games were going to rot our brains but in reality it was them and Fox News, not us and Nintendo. And on and on. 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-is-over-but-the-myth-lives-on.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-...
- maxfurman 8y ago
  Well said.
- naravara 8y ago
  I think a lot of that stuff wasn't things Boomers worried about so much as things Boomers' parents worried about. And they were right. And then the generation after looked at the results of that and decided to go nowhere near it.
  - MisterOctober 8y ago
    Yep! it's funny - I've been feeling some disgust and resentment toward the behavior of my parents' generation for some time, and felt like I was kind of alone in that until I saw Bruce Gibney's recent book [and accompanying NPR interview on] 'Generation of Sociopaths,' which coherently makes it clear that, well, there are other folks who feel the same way.
- Bizarro 8y ago
  They said that video games were going to rot our brains but in reality it was them and Fox News.. and MSNBC, CNN, the NYT, and on and on.
- sharkmerry 8y ago
  The first chart on that page seems to show that the divorce rate for 2000's is in line with all the other decades at that # years of marriage.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
grigjd3 8y ago
I suspect there are a couple issues at play here. Boomers went through a social transition where women started into the workplace in ever greater numbers. They have had a higher divorce rate out of the chaos of that social contract change. Also, waiting for economic stability really can make people more stable emotionally - so simply waiting to get married seems like it can really help there.
- Zelphyr 8y ago
  This is kind-of painting with a broad brush here but the social change that the boomer's pushed hasn't been too kind to them. I have several women relatives who were taught by their mothers to stay home and be a good mother and wife (their words). So much so that when they got divorced, they didn't know what to do. They hadn't factored being a single parent into their life plans so they had to quickly and painfully learn things like how to manage finances. I can't help but think that Gen X and Millenials saw/heard what their mothers and grandmothers went through and have chosen to educate themselves and secure their lives before getting married and having children.
  - cannonedhamster 8y ago
    I think you're spot on, but I think that parents of Millenials saw these changes as well and made sure to try to set up their children for a working life regardless of gender. There's still a stigma against stay at home dads though, so while traditionally male gender roles have become more open to women, traditionally female gender roles accepting of men have lagged a bit. It's definitely not a case where equality of opportunity has been reached, however there has been progress and we are still moving forward.
Retric 8y ago
Depends on how they run the statistics. I assume marriages have different rates of divorce based on how old the people and the marriage is. So, a decline in new high risk marriages should influence the rate.
tomp 8y ago
> So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages. Under some basic assumptions, this could still be. E.g. if couples that have been married longer are more likely to stay married, lower new marriage rate would result in proportionally more old marriages and hence lower divorce rate. E.g. if people are less willing to marry, more of those who marry would be marrying for a "good" reason (i.e. because they're more sure they're compatible, or because they follow a religion where divorce is bad).
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
mulmen 8y ago
How does the work in states that allow same-sex marriage?
- yuchi 8y ago
  I _believe_ it’s statistically irrelevant.
- maneesh 8y ago
  Note that all states now allow same sex marriage
pitt1980 8y ago
> ... the divorce rate as a ratio of divorces to the total number of married women. So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages. That doesn't seem right at all, If the decline in marriages in marriages result in more at risk marriages not happening, this could absolutely be a reflection of a decline in marriages

ddebernardy 8y ago

If I'm not mistaking, the rub is almost a footnote at the very end of the article: > They’re living together, and often raising kids together, but deciding not to tie the knot. And studies have shown these cohabiting relationships are less stable [0] than they used to be. [0]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712741/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4712741/

PurpleBoxDragon 8y ago
So in a way divorce rates are going up if you don't stick to the technical definition of a divorce as the end of a legal status and instead look at the breakup of family unit instead? It seems part a word game because I doubt those looking at the statistics ever really cared much about marriages or divorces for what they represent on a purely legal level, but for their approximation of cohabitation and family status.

romed 8y ago

Yeah everybody always skips right over Gen X ... The NYT covered divorce in a better article with a better graph four years ago[1]. The life lesson here is that the things Boomers say are going to happen to other generations are actually going to happen to them instead. They said we were all getting divorced but that was them not us. They said that video games were going to rot our brains but in reality it was them and Fox News, not us and Nintendo. And on and on. 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-is-over-but-the-myth-lives-on.html https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-...

maxfurman 8y ago
Well said.
naravara 8y ago
I think a lot of that stuff wasn't things Boomers worried about so much as things Boomers' parents worried about. And they were right. And then the generation after looked at the results of that and decided to go nowhere near it.
- MisterOctober 8y ago
  Yep! it's funny - I've been feeling some disgust and resentment toward the behavior of my parents' generation for some time, and felt like I was kind of alone in that until I saw Bruce Gibney's recent book [and accompanying NPR interview on] 'Generation of Sociopaths,' which coherently makes it clear that, well, there are other folks who feel the same way.
Bizarro 8y ago
They said that video games were going to rot our brains but in reality it was them and Fox News.. and MSNBC, CNN, the NYT, and on and on.
sharkmerry 8y ago
The first chart on that page seems to show that the divorce rate for 2000's is in line with all the other decades at that # years of marriage.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

grigjd3 8y ago

I suspect there are a couple issues at play here. Boomers went through a social transition where women started into the workplace in ever greater numbers. They have had a higher divorce rate out of the chaos of that social contract change. Also, waiting for economic stability really can make people more stable emotionally - so simply waiting to get married seems like it can really help there.

Zelphyr 8y ago
This is kind-of painting with a broad brush here but the social change that the boomer's pushed hasn't been too kind to them. I have several women relatives who were taught by their mothers to stay home and be a good mother and wife (their words). So much so that when they got divorced, they didn't know what to do. They hadn't factored being a single parent into their life plans so they had to quickly and painfully learn things like how to manage finances. I can't help but think that Gen X and Millenials saw/heard what their mothers and grandmothers went through and have chosen to educate themselves and secure their lives before getting married and having children.
- cannonedhamster 8y ago
  I think you're spot on, but I think that parents of Millenials saw these changes as well and made sure to try to set up their children for a working life regardless of gender. There's still a stigma against stay at home dads though, so while traditionally male gender roles have become more open to women, traditionally female gender roles accepting of men have lagged a bit. It's definitely not a case where equality of opportunity has been reached, however there has been progress and we are still moving forward.

Retric 8y ago

Depends on how they run the statistics. I assume marriages have different rates of divorce based on how old the people and the marriage is. So, a decline in new high risk marriages should influence the rate.

tomp 8y ago

> So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages. Under some basic assumptions, this could still be. E.g. if couples that have been married longer are more likely to stay married, lower new marriage rate would result in proportionally more old marriages and hence lower divorce rate. E.g. if people are less willing to marry, more of those who marry would be marrying for a "good" reason (i.e. because they're more sure they're compatible, or because they follow a religion where divorce is bad).

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

mulmen 8y ago

How does the work in states that allow same-sex marriage?

yuchi 8y ago
I _believe_ it’s statistically irrelevant.
maneesh 8y ago
Note that all states now allow same sex marriage

pitt1980 8y ago

> ... the divorce rate as a ratio of divorces to the total number of married women. So, the divorce rate’s decline isn’t a reflection of a decline in marriages. That doesn't seem right at all, If the decline in marriages in marriages result in more at risk marriages not happening, this could absolutely be a reflection of a decline in marriages