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How come you don't count these 5 marriages this 1 person went through? You have 5 stable marriages + 5 marriages that ended up in divorce = 10 marriages in tot
by BEm68vjV2fxQX8 5y ago
How come you don't count these 5 marriages this 1 person went through?
You have 5 stable marriages + 5 marriages that ended up in divorce = 10 marriages in total
So yes, 50% of marriages are 'unstable' in your example.
If you count people affected, (and even assuming that these failed marriages were with a partner who was never married either before or after), then you have:
10 people in 'stable' marriages + 6 people in 'unstable' marriages -> still not quite the 80/20 ratio
- williamtrask 5y agoIf 15% of the population participates in 90% of the divorces it’s an important factor in the commentary on the institution of marriage. It indicates that some individuals are more or less compatible for it as opposed to a 50/50 random gossip that yours will fail.
- acoard 5y agoThat's a fair question and it depends on what you're trying to get out of the framing. It's similar to the "mean vs median" thing in averages. The absolute average divorce rate is 50%, but the typical marriage survives 85% of the time. I often see "50% of marriages end in divorce" as an argument to not get married. Why get married if "until death due us part" is a coin-toss? That framing ignores that the overwhelming majority of first-time marriages are marriages for life.