A new study found that getting a divorce may lead to an earlier death, but experts are quick to note that this study does not conclusively prove that seeking a divorce is bad for a person’s health.

According to a recent report in the Detroit Free Press, a study conducted by the University of Arizona found that divorced adults have a higher risk of early death than adults who are married.

The study was essentially a review of more than 30 other studies that had been conducted on the matter, as the researchers in Arizona merged the various findings together in an empirically sound manner.

The researchers found that adults who have been divorced were 23 percent more likely to die an early death than similar adults who were married. Shockingly, the researchers found that divorce may be just as dangerous as smoking, drinking heavily, being overweight, or failing to exercise.

Of course, despite these staggering statistics, researchers warned that their work did not conclusively find a link between poor health and divorce, and cautioned that their work did have some flaws.

For example, the various studies followed divorced and married couples for only 11 years, which may not offer a long enough time period to draw such conclusions. In addition, only a limited amount of people were surveyed, which does minimize the results of the study a bit.

In response, though, supporters of the study will observe that the researchers tracked several million people in 11 different countries, which supports their claim that an adequate number of people were tracked, despite the limited geographic scope of the studies.

The study, which is deemed “meta-analysis,’ or the study of studies, examined existing evidence culled over the course of three decades to draw its broader conclusions about divorce and poor health.

The researchers also cautioned that, despite the apparent risk of poor health, many people who obtain a divorce end up happier than they were before the separation.

According to the survey, most divorced people report high levels of satisfaction after their divorces and almost 75 percent end up remarrying.

However, despite the high rate of success, roughly 10 percent of people who file for divorce report that they struggle with serious health issues, perhaps due to depression or other forms of mental anguish.

Researchers believe that these unhappy divorced people account for a significant portion of the people who experience serious health problems after a divorce.

Finally, the researchers also cautioned that divorce seemed to have a disproportionate impact on men, as 31 percent of men has an increased risk for early death after divorce, compared with only 18 percent of women.

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Just over half of all adult Americans are currently married, which represents the lowest such rate for several decades, and has caused social researchers to explore the reasons why young Americans are choosing not to get married.

According to a recent report from TIME magazine, the nation’s low marriage rate may be a direct result of young couples’ fears of eventually having to file for divorce.

In a recent survey of cohabitating couples (people who are living together but are not married), researchers from Cornell University discovered that many women were concerned about getting married because they feared being “trapped” in a bad relationship.

Researchers found that low-income women were especially concerned about the potential financial effects of divorce, and many chose to avoid marriage out of fear of hypothetical divorce issues.

The survey also discovered that a significant majority of women who responded—67 percent—said they were worried about the possible economic and social problems that might arise from a divorce.

And, while fears of divorce are rising and the marriage rate drops, cohabitation rates are rising steeply across the country. Many observers feel that this trend is related to economic factors, not social fears.

According to some experts, middle-class women are less frightened of marriage because, on average, they feel that they can afford the potential end of a marriage. For people with steady incomes, issues like child support or alimony are not as troublesome.

For folks on the lower steps of the income ladder, however, marriage and divorce might pose daunting financial difficulties.

Lower-income women, for example, are often the primary breadwinners in the home, as low-income men continue to face frighteningly high levels of unemployment.

Since women with low incomes tend to be the primary money-earners, they are often reluctant to marry because marriage to an unemployed man adds another mouth to feed, without adding any additional income to the family.

As a result, lower-income women believe that marriage may serve as a trap, with extra responsibilities heaped onto an already busy daily docket.

This belief may also help explain why lower-income couples tend to cohabitate for longer periods of time than couples with higher incomes. Sources indicate that many high-income duos cohabitate for a few years as a prelude to eventual marriage.

Of course, the nature of marriage and divorce has evolved steadily since the inception of both institutions. And today’s marriages, while ostensibly based on love and affection, still play an important role as an economic engine in the modern world.

Because marriage decisions have such important economic consequences, financial realities will continue to influence people’s decisions about whether they should get married. And it seems that fears of divorce may also play a powerful role in these important decisions.

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For the last century of American life, traditional marriages have looked very similar across the cultural spectrum—one man married one woman and that was it. Today, though, marriage and divorce trends are dramatically changing.

Of course, the most notable modern alteration is the introduction of gay marriage in a handful of states. Other states, too, offer civil unions to gay and lesbian couples. While these unions are not exactly equivalent to marriage, they offer same-sex couples many of the benefits of traditional marriage.

Perhaps a more controversial trend, though, has begun to surface. According to a recent report from ABC News, polyamory—or, the love of many—has become more common in American households.

Polyamorous families come in many shapes and sizes, but they typically involve the addition of at least a third partner to a relationship. And many of these unique families are trying to tweak marriage and divorce laws so that they can all be united (and sometimes separated) in a single partnership.

One of the largest advocacy groups for the controversial practice of polyamory is called Loving More. This group is headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, and it publishes a magazine for practitioners of polyamory.

The group was founded in 1985, and it also holds retreats and conventions for people friendly to its cause. According to its own resources, the group has roughly 45,000 members, which shows that this practice may not be a passing fad.

A spokesperson from Loving More claims that polyamory is significantly more popular than most people estimate, but that the group has had a hard time gathering accurate statistics because the U.S. census does not ask about multiple relationships.

The cause also has some celebrity supporters, such as Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique, who recently told an ABC interviewer that she and her husband have an open relationship that allows them to seek romantic partners outside their marriage.

Proponents of polyamory also defend spiritual and emotional value of the practice, and disagree with critics who claim that open marriages are simply an excuse to seek casual sex. They also claim that open marriages are not easy.

In fact, one woman who lives with two men claim that polyamory can be more challenging than traditional marriages because “finding three people to get along and commit is not easy.”

Despite the relative normalcy of many open marriages, some observers are concerned about the effect of the novel relationships on children.

Elisabeth Sheff, a sociologist at Georgia State University, studied the effects of polyamorous relationships on children, and believes that children can thrive in these non-traditional households, as long as the family is “stable and loving.”

The definition of “stable and loving,” though, seems to be a bit amorphous, and Sheff also cautions that children in these families may face inordinate amounts of teasing and criticism at school.

Nevertheless, these relationships may continue to grow more popular, and as they do, marriage laws may have to adjust to recognize the shifting trends.

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While the national divorce rate has remained fairly steady for several decades, members of the baby boom generation are getting divorces at a rapidly increasing rate.

According to a report in the Akron Beacon Journal, researchers at Bowling Green University have discovered that the divorce rate for baby boomers, defined as people who were born between 1946 and 1964, has more than doubled over the past 30 years.

In fact, more than 25 percent of all people who divorce today are over 50, which represents a dramatic shift over the divorce statistics of past generations.

Some observers cite the shifting divorce norms as a sign of a changing culture in which divorce is no longer seen as a socially disastrous step. In particular, older Americans now view divorce as a natural part of one’s personal life, particularly if a marriage is no longer fruitful.

In addition, researchers cite increasing economic and educational opportunities for women as another reason some wives feel liberated to leave the confines of an unhappy marriage.

Previously, when many women were not in the traditional workplace, they often found the idea of separating from their spouse less realistic.

Further, an Ohio psychologist claims that the ease with which older Americans can meet potential romantic partners has decreased people’s fears about being alone after divorce. The Internet, particularly, has opened many new channels for single people to meet other divorcees.

Finally, as the average life expectancy for people in the United States continues to rise, people who divorce in their 50s may still have several decades to search for a new mate. Divorcing at 50, in other words, does not have to signal the end of one’s romantic life.

Beyond shifting social norms, older divorcees often choose to separate because, as people age, divorce may become a simpler process.

For couples whose children have grown up and left the nest, divorce may not involve the potential complications associated with child custody and child support.

Moreover, the increased likelihood that both partners in a marriage are financially independent may reduce the chances that an older American couple would keep a marriage intact simply for economic reasons.

Of course, this trend is not perceived as beneficial by all. Some critics decry the growing divorce rates for old couples, claiming that the trend signals the end of marriage as a bedrock institution, and portends doom for younger generations.

In addition, some critics believe that divorces have become too easy to obtain, and have proposed bills in a few states that attempt to introduce a mandatory waiting period for couples seeking a divorce.

In theory, the waiting period will allow divorcing couples more time to try to solve their differences in order to prevent their impending separation.

It seems, however, that the trend shows no signs of slowing down. As a result, Americans may have to embrace the reality that marriages have become more fluid, and that changing social and economic circumstances may lead the divorce rate to rise even higher.

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The results of a Census Bureau study on American marriages were recently released, and the figures may surprise you.

The study revealed that divorce is much more common among men and women in the South than people in the Northeast.

In the South, per 1,000 married individuals, 10.2 men and 11.1 women had gotten divorced. In contrast, men and women in the Northeast experienced divorce rates of 7.2 and 7.5 percent, respectively.

On average, the national divorce rate was roughly 1 percent, with men at 9.2 per 1,000 and women leading the way with a 9.7 per 1,000 divorce rate.

While the disparity in regional divorce rates may suggest a number of different causes, a family demographer at the Census Bureau believes there is a simple answer for the difference.

According to Diana Elliott, divorce rates are higher in the South simply because “marriage rates are also higher in the South.” With a larger pool of married adults, states in the South will naturally have more total divorces.

Elliott also observed that first marriages in the Northeast, in contrast to marriages in the South, “tend to be delayed and the marriage rates are lower, meaning there are also fewer divorces.”

According to reports, states with below-average divorce rates include Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

On the flip side, states with above-average divorce rates include southern stalwarts like Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, and Mississippi.

The Census Bureau study also analyzed the financial impact of divorce on families. The data offers some uneven results, but it does show that the majority of children living with a parent who divorced in 2009 now live with their mothers.

This reality tends to have some impact on the mothers’ financial well-being, as 23 percent of recently divorced women receive some form of public assistance, compared with just 15 percent of men needing similar assistance.

In addition, recently divorced women have less income than newly divorced men. Roughly 17 percent of men coming out of divorce have incomes below $25,000, while more than a quarter of recently divorced women fall below that income threshold.

These figures shouldn’t suggest that divorce always results in a financial loss. Many divorces provide important emotional relief for both parties that may outweigh any temporary financial inconveniences.

Many people, however, find it necessary to consult with a divorce lawyer in order to gain more knowledge about their legal rights.

Approaching divorce with full knowledge of your legal options may help prevent divorce from being too much of a financial strain, and allow you to seek the fresh start you deserve.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

What are the driving forces behind marriages that end in divorce? Age and kids may be a factor. Divorce is statistically more likely for those who marry younger in life. Couples with kids are less likely to go through the divorce process than their childless counterparts.

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<a href=”http://www.totaldivorce.com/blog/2011/09/12/will-your-marriage-end-in-divorce/” target=”_blank” title=”Will Your Marriage End in Divorce?”><img title=”Will Your Marriage End in Divorce?” src=”http://assets.totaldivorce.com/infographics/will-your-marriage-survive.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Will Your Marriage End in Divorce?”></a>

Will Your Marriage End in Divorce? Marriage Survival Rates Over Time

Who is Divorcing?

Fifty percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. Age at marriage has a big influence on divorce rates.These numbers show the age at marriage for surveyed divorcees.

• Under 20: 27.6% Women / 11.7% Men
• 20-24: 36.6% Women / 38.8% Men
• 25-29: 16.4% Women / 22.3% Men
• 30-34: 8.5% Women / 11.6% Men
• 25-39: 5.1% Women / 6.5% Men
• 40+ 5.8% Women / 9.1 % Men

9.1 divorces per 1,000 people occur in the state of Nevada, making it the nation’s leader in divorces. Massachusetts has only 2.4 per 1,000 people, the least.

What about the Kids?

Couple with children have a slightly lower rate of divorce than childless couples.

60% of divorcing couples do not have children. 40% of divorcing couples have children.

The absence of children may lead to loneliness and weariness.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

A new Census Bureau report released Thursday shows that American men and women in the South have the country’s highest divorce rates, while those in the Northeast have the lowest.

The report, titled Marital Events of Americans: 2009, examines marriage, divorce and widowhood trends among Americans ages 15 and older. It is the first of its kind to report this information based on the data from the 2009 American Community Survey.

Figures in the report show that 10.2 men and 11.1 women in the South had gotten a divorce in the 12 months leading up to the 2009 survey. The national divorce rate per 1,000 was 9.2 and 9.7 for men and women respectively.

In contrast to the Southern statistics, men and women of the Northeast had divorce rates of 7.2 and 7.5 per 1,000.

“Divorce rates tend to be higher in the South because marriage rates are also higher in the South,” said Census Bureau demographer Diana Elliot in the report’s release.

“In the Northeast, first marriages tend to be delayed and the marriage rates are lower, meaning there are also fewer divorces.”

Divorce rates for men and women in 2009 were significantly higher than the national average in 14 states. Many of those above average for both genders were located in the South, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Divorce rates for women and men were lower than the national average in nine and ten states respectively. Northeastern states including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York were all below the national divorce average.

The study also found that divorce impacted the economic well-being of families.

Children living with a divorced parent in 2009 were more likely to live in a household below the poverty level (28 percent) than other children (19 percent). Children of divorce were also more likely to live in a rented home (53 percent) than other children (36 percent).

Divorce had a greater negative financial impact on women than it had on men. Of women divorced in the past 12 months, 22 percent were living below the poverty level, compared to 11 percent of men.

Until recently, data on U.S. marriages and divorces were collected at the state level through marriage and divorce certificates. In 2008, questions about marital events were added to the American Community Survey that was used for the new Census Bureau report.

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.

Same sex marriages have long been a hot-button issue for political types, and something debated in by pre-law students across the globe. However, something few people have discussed at length is the legal ramification of same sex divorces, when those marriages may have been done illegally. If you want to learn more about the law as it pertains to love, read the infographic below about same sex divorce.

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<a href=”http://www.totaldivorce.com/blog/2011/08/24/a-look-at-same-sex-divorces-in-the-united-states” target=”_blank” title=”A Look At Same Sex Divorces In The United States”><img title=”A Look At Same Sex Divorces In The United States” src=”http://assets.totaldivorce.com/infographics/same-sex-divorce.png” border=”0″ alt=”Same-Sex Marriage in America”></a>

Same Sex Divorces in the United States

Currently 6 states allow same-sex couples to get married and divorced (Iowa, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire). One state (Maryland) allows same-sex couples married elsewhere to divorce there. Two states (Washington and Oregon) have partial recognition for same-sex marriages and divorces*. Three states (California, Texas and Wyoming) partially recognize same-sex divorces**. The remaining states do not have any legal recognition of same-sex marriages or divorces.

*Same sex marriage is legal under the laws of the Coquille Native American tribe in Oregon, and the Squamish tribe in Washington, but not by the states themselves.

**California, Texas and Wyoming have all granted same-sex couples divorces under special circumstances since they did not have specific laws banning same-sex divorce.

Same-sex marriage was officially banned at the federal level by the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Consequentially, the IRS and federal courts do not recognize disputes involving the financial complications of a same-sex divorce. Parts of DOMA have been ruled unconstitutional by the Obama Administration, which also support a new law to define federal recognition to legally married same-sex couples.

Recently, the U.S. Justice Department has dropped its opposition to same-sex married couples filing joint bankruptcy petitions.

Civil Unions

In addition to the six states that allow same-sex marriage, 12 states allow for civil unions for same-sex couples: Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Delaware.

The Defense of Marriage Act also prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex civil unions.

Same Sex Divorce in Europe

The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage on April 1, 2001. Since then, both same-sex and opposite-sex marriages have experienced an equal divorce rate of 1%.

The Netherlands is noted for its liberal stance on many issues. It began a trend in adopting same sex marriage that many other European nations have followed, the most recent example being Portugal adopting same-sex marriage in 2010.

The majority of Western Europe either fully or partially recognize same-sex marriage. Eastern Europe and many countries of the former Soviet Union do not allow for same-sex couples to get married.

The UK has adopted civil partnerships for same-sex couples. Since its adoption in 2005, some 50,000 couples have formed a civil partnership. Civil partnerships increased 44% between 2009 and 2010 (353 to 509). 1.6% of Gay civil partnerships and 3.3% of Lesbian civil partnerships have ended in divorce.

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A new report from the American Sociological Society shows that marriage transitions seem to play a significant role in affecting weight gains among American men and women.

According to the study, men and women who marry or divorce are more likely to experience a weight gain in the two years following the event, than individuals who never marry.

The report, authored by Ohio State University doctoral student Dmitry Tumin, examined data on more than 10,000 men and women who were surveyed annually from 1986 to 2008. By dividing the data into subsets, Tumin indentified the trend in weight gains and found that it differed among men and women.

“Divorces for men and, to some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk,” Tumin said in a university news release.

Specifically, the study showed that marriage increases women’s risk of a small weight increase (up to a three-point BMI increase) by 33% and their risk of a large weight increase (BMI increase above three points) by 48%.

Men, on the other hand, are at greatest risk of a weight increase during the years following a divorce. After divorce, men are 21% more likely to experience small weight gains.

The trend in weight gains following marital transitions is more pronounced among individuals who marry or divorce after the age of 30. The study shows that the likelihood of weight gain increases with age from that point forward.

Zhenchao Qian, a professor of sociology at Ohio State University who helped conduct the study, said in a university news release that the effect of marital transitions on weight in individuals aged 22 to 30 is somewhat unclear.

Those involved with the study explained that their research only examined the two year period following a marital transition and that results may vary for the subsequent years.

The research was presented last week during the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas.

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In addition to giving us the immortalized image of a surprised Marilyn Monroe in that billowing white dress, new marriage reports suggest that Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch” also gave us a term that accurately identifies a real-life marriage statistic.

Recent census data released this year shows that first marriages ending in divorce lasted a median of eight years. The median time between marriage and separation was – you guessed it – seven years.

The “itch,” according to marriage experts, comes from factors such as the stress of caring for children or the accumulation of work and family pressures. All of these pressures, experts say, tend to come to a head around the seven year mark.

In an interview with the Press Democrat, Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, expanded on the matter.

“Typically, people who are unhappy with their marriages figure that out within the first few years and then take a few more years to get to the state of divorcing,” said Cherlin.

“Over time,” he said, “people’s flaws reveal themselves. The positives remain, but the negatives build up. It may be that after a while you realize your spouse won’t be providing for you economically as well as you want.”

Director of the National Marriage Project W. Bradford Wilcox explained to the newspaper that most people today marry in their late 20’s. According to the Census Bureau, the median age is 26.1 for women and 28.2 for men.

“At some level, if you are dissatisfied, particularly if you are a woman, you may think, “I need to get out before I’m too old. I’ll have more options if I’m 35 versus 45,” Wilcox said.

The seven-year itch is so recognizable that it once garnered recognition from the satirical newspaper The Onion in a story titled “Darling, Will You Spend the Next Six to Ten Years with Me?”

When “I look into your eyes,” the story read, “I see all the things I never used to want. A big wedding. Kids. A house with a white picket fence that I’ll have to move out of in about seven years when you discover I’m sleeping with my secretary.”

With all jokes aside, some marriage counselors find seven years to be a rather generous figure.

When speaking with the Press Democrat, Anthony Centore, director of Thrive Boston Counseling and Psychotherapy, said many couples come into his practice overwhelmed by factors such as the mortgage, aging parents, or childcare – things unrelated to their spousal relationships.

For these couples, not enough time is spent caring for the marriage or investing in their spouse.

“Things happen like affairs and hurt feelings, and people feel betrayed and abandoned,” Centore said.

“Sometimes, it’s a miracle they last seven years.”

Copyright © 2010 TotalDivorce, LLC. (as licensee). All rights reserved.