Skip to main content
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Home
- Subscribe/renew
- Institutions
- Individual subscriptions
- Individual renewals
- Librarians
- Rates, orders, and payments
- Complete Chicago Package
- Full run and content coverage
- KBART files and RSS feeds
- Permissions and reprints
- Chicago Emerging Nations Initiative
- Dispatch dates and claims
- Librarian FAQ
- Agents
- Rates, orders, and payments
- Complete Chicago Package
- Full run and content coverage
- Dispatch dates and claims
- Agent FAQ
- About us
- About Chicago Journals
- Open access at Chicago
- Publish with us
- Newly acquired journals
- Publishing partners
- Updates from the Press
- Sign up for eTOC alerts
- Press releases
- Media
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
Performance Cookies Checkbox
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Functional Cookies Checkbox
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Campaign Cookies Checkbox
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Social Media Cookies Checkbox
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
At a time when divorce is becoming less common for younger adults, so-called “gray divorce” is on the rise: Among U.S. adults ages 50 and older, the divorce rate has roughly doubled since the 1990s.
While the divorce rate for adults 50 and older has risen sharply over the past 25 years, it has remained relatively steady for this age group since 2008, when the Census Bureau began collecting divorce data yearly as part of its American Community Survey.
Still, the divorce rate for those younger than 50 is about twice as high as it is for adults 50 and older. And since 1990 the divorce rate has also climbed slightly for adults ages 40 to 49, though not to the extent of those 50 and older.
In 2015, 21 adults ages 40 to 49 divorced per 1,000 married persons in that age range – up slightly from 18 in 1990. By contrast, the divorce rate for adults ages 25 to 39 has fallen from 30 persons per 1,000 married persons in 1990 to 24 in 2015. This decline is attributed at least in part to younger generations putting off marriage until later ages. The median age at first marriage for men in 2016 was 29.5, and for women it was 27.4 – up from 26.1 and 23.9, respectively, in 1990. In addition, those who do end up marrying are more likely to be college-educated, and research shows that college-educated adults have a lower rate of divorce.
The climbing divorce rate for adults ages 50 and older is linked in part to the aging of the Baby Boomers, who now make up the bulk of this age group. [As of 2015, Baby Boomers ranged in age from 51 to 69.]
The risk of divorce for adults ages 50 and older is also higher among those who have been married for a shorter time. For example, among adults 50 and older who had been married for less than 10 years, the divorce rate was 21 people per 1,000 married persons in 2015. By contrast, the divorce rate is 13 people per 1,000 married persons for adults ages 50 and older who had been married for 20 to 29 years. This is largely connected to remarriages being less stable than first marriages. In fact, most adults in this group who have been married less than 20 years were in their second or higher marriage.
While the rate of divorce is lower among adults ages 50 and older who have been in longer-term marriages, a significant share of gray divorces do occur among couples who have been married for 30 years or more. Among all adults 50 and older who divorced in the past year, about a third [34%] had been in their prior marriage for at least 30 years, including about one-in-ten [12%] who had been married for 40 years or more. Research indicates that many later-life divorcees have grown unsatisfied with their marriages over the years and are seeking opportunities to pursue their own interests and independence for the remaining years of their lives.
But divorce at this stage of life can also have some downsides. Gray divorcees tend to be less financially secure than married and widowed adults, particularly among women. And living alone at older ages can be detrimental to one’s financial comfort and, for men, their satisfaction with their social lives.
Related posts:
The share of Americans living without a partner has increased, especially among young adults
As U.S. marriage rate hovers at 50%, education gap in marital status widens
Renee Stepler is a former research analyst who focused on social and demographic trends research at Pew Research Center.