People’s perceptions of divorce can vary dramatically. For instance, some people will say that half of all marriages end in divorce. Others will say that this is a myth. Some may say that divorce is constantly growing more common. Others will note that they believe the divorce rates are dropping.
What is the reason for this difference? There are a lot of reasons, such as misconceptions about overall divorce rates or people who are simply repeating studies from the 1970s. But one thing to consider is that the divorce rates are not the same for every age group. So someone’s perception about whether or not this rate is increasing could just depend on how old they are.
Gray divorce continues rising
A good example of this is the fact that divorce rates for most age groups keep falling, but gray divorce keeps getting more common. This is a divorce of those who are 50 years old and older. The majority of them fall into the Baby Boomer generation. Among boomers, divorce is only becoming more common.
Exactly why this is happening is different from case to case, but there are numerous theories. One is that rising life expectancy has pushed some older couples to seek divorce because they are simply married for far longer. Another theory is that social stigmas around divorce have changed over the years, so people feel comfortable getting divorced now when they may not have a few decades ago.
Regardless, it’s clear that divorce is still very common for those in this age group. It’s important for all of them to know what legal steps to take as they go through this process.
