I’ve lived here for three and a half years now and I’ve watched this play out in real time, several times. There are numerous factors. Most folks marry young,

I’ve lived here for three and a half years now and I’ve watched this play out in real time, several times. There are numerous factors. Most folks marry young, largely due to the expectations of the religious older generations. This has changed, but only recently - so there’s a dip in the marriage rate while the other causes of divorce remain constant. Additionally, most folks live with their parents until they get married. This… leaves people ill-prepared for many realities. Money is hard. A lot of people go overseas to find work, for months or years at a time. This has inevitable ramifications. Additionally, money worries stress relationships in general, and money worries are seemingly ubiquitous. Also, many older folks who have been married since the 70s or before have divorced in recent years, as they were often married due to the constraints of the estado novo - geography, socioeconomic class, lack of options or opportunity - and without children at home providing cohesion find they have little in common. Empty-nest syndrome but on a grand scale. Finally, the Portuguese legal approach to marriage makes it easy - more often than not, there is a complete division of assets throughout the marriage, and divorces can be executed quickly.