As our society changes, so do our values and standards, as well as what we consider to be the norms in terms of behavior. This affects everything from our educational and career choices, to relationships, and of course, just about every other aspect of the way we conduct our lives. And while Marriage and Divorce, capital letters intended here, appear to be solid and unchanging, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Both are dynamic and evolve over time, as can be seen by looking at even a few years of divorce news and trends.
An example of this is the general rate of marriages and divorces in the country. Both rates have been falling. In 2016, the last year for which statistics are fully available at the time of writing, the marriage rate was 6.9 marriages per 1,000 total population, up from 8.2 in 2000. Meanwhile, for divorces, the latest figures show 3.2 per 1000, down from 4.0 in the same time frame. Fewer people are getting married and fewer are getting divorced.
However, not all types of divorce are declining in prevalence. A specific type is firing. That’s gray divorce, a term used to refer to couples over the age of 50 in long-term marriages who get divorced. The rate there has doubled since 1990.
Another emerging divorce trend is that of animal rights in family law cases, and the quest to protect their well-being precludes viewing them as tradable assets. Currently, three states in the country have laws on file that do exactly that, including Alaska, Illinois, and California, and more in the future seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Meanwhile, anything related to income and opportunity disparity, like the 1% vs. 99%, and heated debates and laws about tax rates for the rich, continue to be in the spotlight. Consider this: the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, is also going through a divorce. The result will likely also be the most expensive divorce settlement in history, given his status. His personal wealth was estimated to be around $140 billion at the start of 2019, and half of that, give or take a few mansions or Amazon stock options, could be up for grabs.
Speaking of financial matters, another divorce trend right now is the increasing prevalence and confusion about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in divorce. Cryptocurrencies were generally designed to be difficult or impossible to track cleanly, while sudden changes in their value make it difficult to estimate fair value. Both issues represent headaches for those trying to resolve digital financial assets in divorce cases for years to come.
Clearly, a lot is changing in the world of marriage and divorce. Staying up to date on the latest divorce news and trends is important in itself and can also be a useful way to gauge what is happening in other parts of society.
