The United States has one of the highest divorce rates in the world. A recent study found that divorce in younger adults is becoming less common, but the number of “gray divorces” has doubled. A divorce is considered “gray” when one or both spouses are over the age of 50, or “gray-haired.”
Why is this demographic divorcing at unprecedented rates? Experts have been studying this trend and have some reflections.
- People are living longer and are healthier. Data compiled by the Social Security Administration found that a man reaching age 65 today can expect to live, on average, until age 84.3, and a woman, on average, until age 86.6. Though a marriage may not be horrible at age 60, merely adequate may no longer suffice for another 30 or more years, says a professor of sociology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Not to mention the rise of pharmaceutical intimacy aids, such as Viagra, which has extended the potential for adulterous behavior among this age group.
- Women are more financially stable. Since the recession, women are in better financial shape and are less likely to remain in an unhappy marriage for financial reasons. In addition, baby boomers were the first generation to see a major increase in women in the workplace. As the boomers enter retirement age, women in higher numbers are in better financial shape and more able to take the leap into separating.
- Divorce is more culturally accepted. Just take a look at trendsetters Al and Tipper Gore, who called it quits in 2010 after 40 years and four children. Divorce no longer holds the stigma it once did. Not only is this generation living longer, they are also marrying and divorcing earlier in their young adulthood and remarrying later in life. The divorce rate for adults over the age of 50 in remarriages is double the rate of those who have been married only once.
Older couples going through divorce face different challenges than younger couples. Though they are generally not dealing with matters of custody or parenting time, they face implications for asset and debt division, alimony, retirement accounts and pensions, life and health insurance, and competency issues. At the end of the day, whatever the reasons for the divorce, divorce is not easy on anyone. This demographic is no exception. There is no typical gray divorce; they come in all shades.