Divorce Is in Decline — But Still Remarkably High
July 29, 2025
Although the cultural revolution of the 1960s and 1970s radically damaged the stability of American marriages, to the point that roughly 50 percent of marriages formed in the 1970s and 1980s have ended in divorce, that trend has reversed to some extent in recent decades. Since the end of the 1970s, marriages have slowly become less likely to end in divorce.
Thus far, marriages formed in the 2010s have continued that trajectory. The report analyzed first marriages and estimates that 18 percent of those marriages were divorced after 10 years. In contrast, marriages formed in the 1970s saw a 30 percent divorce rate after 10 years, and those from the 1980s were at 27 percent.
