I know a good number of people who have gotten divorced, so I figured the "50% of marriages end in divorce" stat was still valid. I also thought that divorces were growing more and more common.
Found out today that I was wrong... it kind of blows my mind that divorce rates are down instead of up:
<< Despite hand-wringing about the institution of marriage, marriages in this country are stronger today than they have been in a long time. The divorce rate peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s and has been declining for the three decades since.
About 70 percent of marriages that began in the 1990s reached their 15th anniversary (excluding those in which a spouse died), up from about 65 percent of those that began in the 1970s and 1980s. Those who married in the 2000s are so far divorcing at even lower rates. If current trends continue, nearly two-thirds of marriages will never involve a divorce, according to data from Justin Wolfers, a University of Michigan economist (who also contributes to The Upshot). >>
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/upshot/the-divorce-surge-is-over-but-the-myth-lives-on.html
Marriage isn't easy, so I'm definitely surprised to hear that if current trends continue, only 1 out of 3 marriages will end in divorce. The institution of marriage needs a better publicist... and here I thought divorce rates were at an all-time high and rising!
If you're married, how long have you been married? What's the divorce rate like in your friend group?