Did you know that the likelihood of divorce is about more than how well you seem to get along as a couple or how in love you feel? People often cite things like drifting apart or cheating as reasons for divorce, and they certainly are, but you can actually find out a lot about your divorce odds just by looking at the numbers. And one of the most critical numbers to consider is your age when you got married.
The general trends
To start with, you should know that there is a general trend. If you get married young, your divorce odds are high. They drop every year beyond 18 years old. So, if you start dating at 18 but wait until 25 to get married, the odds are better that you’ll stay together than if you get married at 18 — even if you’re together as a couple that entire time.
The odds do flip right around 32 years old. After that, each additional year makes it more likely that you’ll get divorced, not less. This could be due, however, to the fact that many people getting married at an older age are getting married for the second time, and second marriage are more likely to end in divorce in general.
By the numbers
To understand this overall trend, let’s look at the specific numbers. From 18 to 32, every year older that you are when you tie the knot causes your divorce odds to go down by 11%. So, simply waiting to get married at 30 instead of 25 could have a massive impact, whether or not you consider 25 to be “young” for a married couple.
After 32, every year adds another 5% to the odds. They start marching back up to what they were at 18 or 20, though they are not increasing as fast as they fell. It’s about half of the rate, so it would take you two years to undo one year of decreased divorce odds that you gained by waiting. In short, you’re still less likely to get divorced at 34 than at 25, despite the fact that your odds are now going up.
What you need to know
If you are getting divorced, you need to know what rights you have, what legal steps to take and how to focus on your future throughout the entire process.