Divorce Rates are Dropping

Everyone knows that 50% of marriages end in divorce, right?

Wrong. And right. For the generation born in the 1950's and married in the 1970's the divorce rate is hovering at just about the 50% line. However did you know that if the wife has at least a college degree the likelihood of divorce drops to 23?. When I have discussed this trend with my friends they weren't aware of this companion factoid.

But this is not true for subsequent generations. Generations marrying since the 1970's have seen a significant decrease in divorce rates for both college and high school graduates. As stated above, divorce rates after 10 years for the generation married during the 1970s for college graduates is 23 percent. However the rates of divorce drops to 20% for the those married in the 1980's with a college degree and 16% for those married in the 1990s. Parker-Pope gives several different reasons for why the divorce rate is declining.

This is just one of the surprising findings I discovered in Tara Parker-Pope's For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage. I also learned that gay and straight couples fight differently. John Gottmann, the preeminent researcher on marriage, along with Robert Levenson did a 12-year study comparing straight and gay marriages. They found that gay and straight couples fight differently; gay couples fight more fairly with fewer verbal attacks and "each partner made more of an effort to defuse the confrontation. The use of controlling and hostile emotional tactics, like belligerence and domineering, also were less common among gay couples."

Lastly, this book gave me lots of interesting articles and resources to pursue for future research and exploration.

For Better is a popscience book with the problems inherent in that genre. Even though it has almost 200 references, I would still like more references. She is a blog writer for the New York Times and the book has a gossipy air. While the book is ostensibly about what makes marriage work, For Better focuses more on divorce than on factors that keep couples together.

Saying that, For Better is a quick and informative read. It shifted my view of marriage and for that I am appreciative. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know the state of modern American marriage. I am really glad I read this book.