Phil Lampe used to assume that divorced people his age had ended their marriages years earlier. Who waits until his or her 50s to get divorced? “After 25 years, 30 years, and kids — and all of that life experience — you're ending the marriage?
Many reasons cause couples to part ways even after many years of marriage, like lack of communication, unresolved issues of the past, and lack of mutual growth. Having financial clarity, finding a support system and shunning negativity help you weather this storm.
More than half of currently married couples (55 percent) had been married for at least 15 years, while 35 percent had reached their 25th anniversary. A small percentage — 6 percent — had even passed their golden (50th) wedding anniversary.
The average age for couples going through their first divorce is 30 years old. 24. 60 percent of all divorces involve individuals aged 25 to 39.
Have you heard of the honeymoon period? The seven-year itch? The 12-year itch? The seven-year itch is said to be the amount of time, on average, that relationships or marriages last but in actual fact, science suggests it may be more like 12 years.
Recent studies suggest that the third year is the hardest year in a relationship. After 3 years together, many couples begin to question their decision to be committed to their partner. They reconsider if this is really the person with whom they want to spend every single day.
It is no surprise, then, that marital infidelity is a leading cause of divorce. Just how common is marital infidelity? According to a study from the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, as many as 25 percent of married men and 15 percent of married women have had extramarital affairs.
Gray (or grey) divorce refers to a divorce involving individuals who are 50 years of age or older. Many high-profile cases, such as Bill and Melinda Gates, Billy Ray and Tish Cyrus, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, have brought attention to the growing number of gray divorces.
And many likely do last a lifetime, because couples fall into the trap of thinking that sexless marriages are “normal.” While they are common – estimates for the number of sexless marriages range from 10 to 20 percent of all marriages – if one or both partners are unhappy, that is never normal.
Once a week is a common baseline, experts say. That statistic depends slightly on age: 40- and 50-year-olds tend to fall around that baseline, while 20- to 30-year olds tend to average around twice a week.
Studies have shown that there is a “Goldilocks” zone, between ages 28 and 32, where marriages have the highest chance of success. After 32, the likelihood of your marriage ending in divorce increases by approximately 5% per year.
31 percent of couples have sex several times a week; 28 percent of couples have sex a couple of times a month; and 8 percent of couples have sex once a month. Sadly — or so we thought — 33 percent of respondents said they rarely or never have sex.
Heterosexual couples with large age gaps had a faster decline in relationship satisfaction in their first 6 to 10 years of marriage than similarly aged couples. Couples with an age gap of 1 to 3 years (with the man older than the woman) were the most common and had the greatest levels of satisfaction.
Routine, responsibilities, unresolved conflict, and not spending quality time together are just a few reasons couples grow apart.
The primary indicator of an invisible divorce is that even though the couple is legally married, they no longer share emotional or physical intimacy as they did earlier in the relationship. Their lives tend to resemble the relationship between co-workers or roommates, rather than an affectionate and married couple.
Why are second marriages more likely to fail? One explanation is the formation of blended families, which can cause loyalty issues with stepchildren and rivalries between co-parents, but there are many other difficulties and stresses that come with remarrying.
A study led by the American Sociological Association determined that nearly 70% of divorces are initiated by women. And the percentage of college-educated American women who initiated divorce is even higher.
What causes divorce in marriage? Infidelity, lack of communication, financial troubles, and sparing sex and intimacy sessions are some of the common reasons for divorce.
What is the average length of marriage? On average, the length of a marriage in the U.S. is seven to eight years. Some states have a higher rate than others, but the divorce rate for the country is around 50%.
According to a team of researchers from Pennsylvania State and Brigham Young University, married couples reached their happiest point at the 20-year mark. For the study, scientists looked at relationship satisfaction in 2,034 marriages with an average age of 35-37.
For men, early was defined as marrying before the age of 26 (29 percent), on time was between the ages of 27 and 30 (38 percent), and late if they married after 30 (33 percent). Results showed that people who married on time or late were least likely to report depressive symptoms in midlife.
Wolfinger noted that the results from the NSFG data show that people who get married between the ages of 28 and 32 are the least likely to get divorced. RELATED: Doing This Together Led 20 Percent of Couples to Divorce in New Survey.