80% divorce rate

[scrub-jay]

But you ladies are all highly-educated and intellectual... just sayin'

[oceanchild]

In a quick google search, I did find some reliable sources saying that both lower education levels and marrying younger correlate with higher divorce rates, but I couldn't easily find percentages.

Here's a lot of Census data from the American Community Survey about "marriage events": http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acs-13.pdf

And apparently the National Center for Health Statistics is the official keeper of national marriage and divorce data (go figure): http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/

[SoonerTexan]

I had a professor in college (opinionated overbearing dude but I still love him and his wife because they truly care) who got into a debate with me over this subject and once publicly ruminated on why I was crazy enough to get married at 22 in front of a large group of IT movers and shakers as I was being introduced to speak to them. LadyM knows who I'm talking about.

I invited him and his wife to my wedding

[Pollyanna]

And, our divorce rate is similar to the rest of the U.S. unless we are in temple marriages. Temple marriages have a very, very low divorce rate compared to the U.S. All of the married-early non-LDS couples we know are now divorced..

Are all LDS marriages Temple marriages?

Interestingly, Catholics have a divorce rate similar to the general population but those Catholics that practice NFP have a divorce rate less than 5%.

I agree that all these factors, income level, education level, and religion, play a role.

[scrub-jay]

Interestingly, Catholics have a divorce rate similar to the general population but those Catholics that practice NFP have a divorce rate less than 5%.

If you were to speculate, why would you propose this relationship exists (NFP & low divorce rate)? I'm just curious.

[scrub-jay]

Most of the couples I know that married early (before 24) were LDS temple marriages (different from a "regular" marriage, these are called "sealings"). And, our divorce rate is similar to the rest of the U.S. unless we are in temple marriages. Temple marriages have a very, very low divorce rate compared to the U.S.

Out of curiosity, is there additional support for temple marriages or LDS marriages (are those synonymous)?

[Vanquisher]

I don't know what is real and what isn't regarding religion and divorce rate. It's hard to even tell. I spent 5 minutes googling and came up with about 100 different answers.

I happen to know an LDS couple (One of my very best friends and her husband who was my friend too) that was temple sealed who did get a divorce. They were married before they were 24. She just married another guy she met on LDSsingles.com, and are trying to unseal her first marriage or something like that. I actually know several divorced Mormon couples, sealed and not.

[moonlight]

If I had to guess about the religious marriages it's because of all the WORK you have to complete for the church to actually marry you. I'm talking about the classes, paperwork, and all the pre planning. I think it provides for some basic marriage training and support from the get go. We had a 2 hr pre marital counseling class and I still remember all the great advice from that one session. I also think it helps to have God on your side when you go through tough times as a married couple.

I think 100% of my married friends before the age of 24 are now divorced.

[mommax3]

I was 21 and DH was 19. It has been 21+ years. I have no explanation as to why, except that I married a really good guy. I know of several other couples that married before 24 (in my age group) and are still married. Most of them had finished college, though. I wouldn't recommend to people to marry as young as we did, but I can honestly say I have never regretted it and consider it the best decision I ever made.

[GrayMatterWife]

If you were to speculate, why would you propose this relationship exists (NFP & low divorce rate)? I'm just curious.

Because the prospect of having sex with a man who is always open to the possibility of you carrying his child, even if you aren't specifically trying to get pregnant, is hot...

I miss Jon.

[GrayMatterWife]

Also anecdotal: I married at 20 (dh was 19). Annnd, dh is highly educated. I am not. I have a high school diploma and two years of college.

Yeah, but you're really freaking smart and very informed. I am not sure how many degrees you have is necessarily a good measure of how educated you are. And, i guess i am not persuaded that formal educational level helps out one way or another. It is purely antecdotal, but in my own life, i have known many uneducated people who have very long marriages. And EVERY SINGLE ONE of the MD-PhD couples we knewvwhen DH was in the program, who were married when they began the program, arev now divorced, with the exception of us and one other couple. So much for a zillion degrees helping with a happy marriage. I think it has a lot more to do with shared values.

[SuzySunshine]

Oh I have nothing to back this up but my impression is that two spouses with high degrees are more likely to lead to divorce because you end up with two high power careers that go in different directions. There are always exceptions to that, we know several, but divorces in that group don't surprise me either.

[Ladybug]

And you can support yourself...

[niener]

I'd bet a lot of it has to do with the ability to think/plan long term. I don't know a lot of under 24 year olds that are particular good at that, and the ones that are would be more selective about their mate which would typically delay marriage until they found someone they were more compatible with. It seems natural that those who are more spontaneous, more instant gratification types would marry and have kids younger only to realize a few years later this isn't what they want for the rest of their lives. It's hard to envision life 20 years from now when you haven't even been alive that long. It makes sense to me too that the ability to think long term and higher education would go hand-in-hand (why go to college if you can't see the long-term benefit, aside from all the raging frat parties, obviously...) so you'd see a correlation between divorce rates/age at marriage with education level. We got married young, 22/23, and were among the first of our friends to do so, but with the exception of a few holdouts (*ahem* my mother *ahem*) most people supported our marriage at that age yet readily admitted they wouldn't support most marriages under the age of 25. We're just old souls and we met very early in life (11/12 years old).

[medpedspouse]

Oh I have nothing to back this up but my impression is that two spouses with high degrees are more likely to lead to divorce because you end up with two high power careers that go in different directions. There are always exceptions to that, we know several, but divorces in that group don't surprise me either.

This is really interesting to me because we were concerned about that when DH was starting med school and I was starting my doctoral program - I actually deferred my enrollment one semester because I wanted to make sure we had the med school groove down before I added to an already stressful situation. An older med spouse that had been sort of my mentor was furious. She said that if I wanted to protect (her word) my marriage I needed to stay true to myself and continue having my own life and career because after all those characteristics is what attracted him to me. She also added other stuff that led me to believe that she had given up much for her DH's medical career. YET - they are still married. So, go figure.