Till death us do part

Well, not for everyone…

Photo by Beatriz Pérez Moya on Unsplash

Marriage has changed a lot over the last century.

The United States gives us a good example of this. There are roughly 2.4 million marriages performed each year, with 62 million couples married as of 2019 (up from 40 million couples in 1960)

However, the marriage rate has also dropped in the US over this time. It peaked in 1946 with a post-war boom of 16.4 marriages per 1,000 people, but had dropped to 6.5 marriages per 1,000 by 2018

There is also a lot of variation within the US. Nevada for example has a substantially higher marriage rate at 26.7 marriages per 1,000 (in 2018; Hawaii is the next highest at 15.3)

This rate is still comparatively high to other countries, such as 5.5 marriages per 1,000 in South Korea, 4.4 per 1,000 in Britain and 2.7 per 1,000 in Argentina

The marriage rate peaked in the United States in 1946 with a post-war boom of 16.4 marriages per 1,000 people, but had dropped to 6.5 marriages per 1,000 by 2018

One of the reasons for this decline is the age that couples choose to marry. In Britain, 83% of men in the 1940s were married by the age of 30, but by 1980 this had dropped to 25%

The average age for people to get married is highest in Australia and New Zealand, at 31.5 years for men and 30 years for women, followed by Europe and North America (29.6 and 27.2 years, respectively), while the youngest is Central and Southern Asia (25 and 20.8 years, respectively)

While most people getting married do so for love, arranged marriages* are common in some parts of the world. In total, there are c. 26 million arranged marriages globally, which represents over 50% of all marriages. And in India, 90% of marriages are arranged, with the remainder known as ‘love marriages’

Despite this type of marriage seeming unusual in Western cultures, a survey in India showed that 3 in 4 respondents would prefer an arranged marriage over a freely chosen marriage

But sadly, not all marriages end happily. Roughly 41% of first marriages end in divorce (this rises to 60% for second and 73% for third marriages)

However, this doesn’t mean that half of all people globally will go through a divorce. For example, in the US approximately 43% of marriages end in divorce, but only 21% of men and 22% of women have had a marriage terminated (the difference is caused by individuals who have had multiple divorces)

• Depending on the source you use, the Maldives is believed to have the highest divorce rate at 5.5 divorces per 1,000 people, with Kazakhstan and Russia next at 4.6 and 3.9
• Sri Lanka has the lowest divorce rate at 0.15 divorces per 1,000 people, with Guatemala and Vietnam close behind (both on 0.2 per 1,000). However, this is partly impacted by how easy or socially acceptable it is to get divorced, as opposed to simply how happy the population are with their relationships
• It’s illegal to divorce in two countries: the Philippines and Vatican City

But what are the biggest factors contributing towards divorce? According to a NCBI study in the US and UK:

• the most common reason for getting divorce is a Lack of Commitment (75% of respondents) followed by Infidelity (59.6%) and Arguing or Conflict (57.7%)
• If both people in the relationship had been married previously, the chances of it ending in divorce increase by 90%
• Spouses who have strong religious beliefs have a 14% lower divorce rate
• Over 90% of marriages for Navy Seals end in divorce
• The professions that experience divorce the most are Gaming Managers (59.2%), Bartenders (52.7%) and Flight Attendants (50.5%), while Actuaries have the lowest divorce rate at just 17%

And for something a bit lighter, who has the biggest weddings?

• India has the largest weddings by a considerable margin with an average of 524 attendees
• Mexico and Brazil have the next largest, on average, at 185 and 159 attendees respectively
• The United States has 126 attendees on average, with the UK on 104

Note*: Arranged marriages do not just include Forced Marriages. These also include marriages where one or both parties have the choice to decline the marriage

Source: Brandon Gaille; Our World in Data (Marriage); Our World in Data (Divorce); World Population Review; Statista; Compare Camp; 2 Date 4 Love; McKinley Irvin; Finances Online;