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Divorce Statistics
The divorce rate is
low among Muslims compared to other groups; some think that the rate
is slowly rising. For example: in 2004 in Singapore (which has an
18% muslim minority) many feared that the divorce rate among muslims
had risen too high: 9 out of every 1000 marriages, a ratio three
times higher than Malaysia and five times higher than Indonesia.
In the United States,in 2003 there were 7.5 marriages per 1000
people and 3.8 divorces per 1000 according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services. In other words, there were half as many
divorces as marriages that year. Statistics like these are
frequently interpreted to mean that half of all marriages end in
divorce. That conclusion, strictly speaking, does not follow from
those data, but other government surveys of marriages over time have
found similar percentages of marriages ultimately ending in divorce.
A NCHS study released in 2001, based on a 1995 survey, found that 43
percent of first marriages ended in separation or divorce within 15
years, with 1 in 3 ending within 10 years and 1 and 5 ending within
5 years.
According to a paper by Margaret Brinig and Douglas W. Allen, "These
Boots Are Made for Walking: Why Most Divorce Filers are Women" (in
American Law and Economics Review, vol. 2, number 1, 2000, pp.
126-129), women currently file slightly more than two-thirds of
divorce cases in the US. There is some variation among states, and
the numbers have also varied over time, with about 60% of filings by
women in most of the 19th century, and over 70% by women in some
states just after no-fault divorce was introduced, according to the
paper.
States in the US also collect billions of dollars in alimony and
child support arrangements, which commonly result from divorces.
(According to a 2003 US census report, 43.7 percent of custodial
mothers, and 56.2 percent of custodial fathers. are divorced or
separated.) A 2005 Census Bureau Report found that in 2002, $40
billion had been paid in support arrangements by 7.8 million payers,
84% of whom were men. States also collected federal incentives to
collect support payments, with a potential incentive pool of up to
$454 million in fiscal 2004. A media kit for the National Child
Support Enforcement Association, a child support advocacy group,
claims that 60,000 professionals work to administer and enforce
child support arrangements.
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