Marriage Separation Statistics

Unfortunately, marriage separation is insufficiently researched and studied nowadays. Scientists explain it by too many complex factors, which would need to be studied in order to generate statics, such as:

– How old were the spouses?

– Was it their first marriage?

– Did the couple have children?

And the most important factor:

– Did the couple reconcile after their separation (separations), or did they divorce?

One of the very few available statistics nowadays states that about 10% of all currently married couples in the United States have separated and reconciled. However, yet another statistical data shows that about 44% of divorcing couples had separated and reconciled prior to their divorce.

There’s a clear discrepancy in the above numbers. Is it 10% or 44%? After doing some research on my own, I started to lean towards the 44% mark. However, neither data provides enough information on whether it was a sudden marriage separation, a planned separation, or what were the reasons for the separation etc.

All marital statistics show that both, the marriage rates and the divorce rates are dropping at a similar rate.
For example:

In 1990 there were 7.1 marriages in Pennsylvania (the lowest number by states) and 99.0 marriages in Nevada (the highest number by states), per 1,000 people.

And in 2004 there were 5.9 marriages in Pennsylvania (one of the lowest numbers by states) and 62.4 marriages in Nevada (the highest number by states), per 1,000 people.

This indicates a median drop in marriages in those two states by 27% from 1990 to 2004.

In 1990 there were 3.3 divorces in Pennsylvania (one of the lowest number by states) and 11.4 divorces in Nevada (the highest number by states), per 1,000 people.

And in 2004 there were 3.0 divorces in Pennsylvania (one of the lowest numbers by states) and 6.4 divorces in Nevada (the highest number by states), per 1,000 people.

This indicates a median drop in divorces in those two states by 27.5% from 1990 to 2004.