K. Dean Kantaras Divorce Law Blog on Lawyers.com

The statistics about divorce are not always clear. The divorce rate is often expressed in two different ways:

• The total number of divorces per 1,000 people within a defined geographic area
• The number of divorces for every 100 marriages (i.e., a percentage)

The second calculation, which compares the divorce rate to the marriage rate, is what leads to the oft-recited and misleading statistic that “1 in every 2 marriages end in divorce” in the United States. The main flaw in this way of looking at statistics is that the people who are getting divorced in a given year are not always the same as those who are getting married. Based on this method, if 8 people per every 1,000 are getting married in 2009 and 4 for every 1,000 are getting divorced, then the divorce rate is 50 percent.

The more accurate and insightful way of looking at divorce is to simply count the number of people who are divorced for a given number of people in a given area. Changes in this number will give a good indication of whether the divorce rate is increasing or decreasing.

In the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics compiles data about divorces. The statistics allow for state comparison and identification of trends:

• In 2005, the national divorce rate was 3.6 per 1,000 people
• In Florida, the divorce rate in 2004 was 9 per 1,000 people, which was well above the national rate
• The state with the highest divorce rate in 2004 was Nevada at 62.4 per 1,000 people
• Washington, DC, had the lowest divorce rate in 2004 at 4.5 per 1,000 people

The question of why divorce rates vary among different states and nations is a question that has occupied and vexed sociologists. There are several factors that could influence divorce rates:

• Education
• Age
• Ethnicity, religion, and culture
• The economic situation
• The living environment (urban, suburban, or rural)
• Laws and public policy
• Personal circumstances

There are too many factors to predict, with full certainty, the likelihood that a marriage will end in divorce. Ultimately, divorce statistics are useful for identifying trends and encouraging people to ask important questions.

This article was provided by the Clearwater divorce attorneys at the Law Offices of K. Dean Kantaras. For divorce help in Clearwater, contact their Clearwater divorce law firm at 1930 East Bay Drive, Largo, Florida 33771; (727) 544-0000.