Divorce statistics

[Patrick]

In working on the main FAQ section, I put together some world wide statistics on marriage rates, divorces, etc.  I had previously only looked at some info. that's already been mentioned, but this time I pulled data out of the US Census Bureau and crunched it myself.  I was a little surprized at what I found.  The data was for the latest year available for each country with some countries being quite out of date (some before 1990) and varied from the 1996 data drastically in some cases.

Anyway, you can see it from the main FAQ page (not the one off of this board).  Or you can go there directly with

planet-love.com/faq/maritalstatus/ (worldwide)
planet-love.com/faq/maritalstatus/latin/ (latin countries only)

Note: you must keep the last "/" in each URL.

[NW Jim]

... in response to Divorce statistics, posted by Patrick on Nov 3, 2001

Patrick,
Good statistical presentation. You're right there's not much else available on the internet,I spent several hours the other night looking. The stats point out the impact of culture on marriage/divorce patterns.

Asia the stats confirm the stereotypical picture of stable marriages with 85%+ people married by mid-40's and low divorce rates.

FSU stats look surprisingly like U.S. stats, except the higher divorce rate in the 20-24 range. This also reflects the cultural habit of marrying young in that culture. One would expect younger marriages to be less stable in any culture due to immaturity.

Latin stats were a bit more varied, but one needs to be careful in saying that there are fewer divorces compared to the US, notice that in many countries the marriage rates are half that of the US. Many more children born out of wedlock.

To interpolate these stats to intercultural marriages in the U.S. requires adding in the stressful factors of one party having to adapt to a different culture, language etc. The stats do however remind us of the importance of avoiding real young ladies, and of finding ladies who come from stable families, not dysfunctional ones.

[Patrick]

... in response to Divorce statistics, posted by Patrick on Nov 3, 2001

I rest my case on guys having problems when marrying women in their early 20s!

[Tai]

... in response to Observation, posted by Patrick on Nov 3, 2001

Patrick,

Although I generally agree with your perspectives on Gringo/Latina marriages with large age differences, there are more factors that would need to be factored into any reliable "statistically supported" conclusions regarding the success/failure rates of such marriages.

Unless the statistics are crunched only from cases where the couples involved are selected from identical pools of men and women where the pool variables are "controlled" or "fixed", the data can not reliably(much less conclusively) support your assertion.

Statistics, all too often, do not objectively prove an assertion. Typically it is the bias of the statistician that determines the "interpretation" of the data....and your bias on this subject is clear.

Bias is the reason that study data has to be crunched and recrunched by multiple persons that are all following a common or recognized schedule of data integration. Bias is also the reason for "blind" studies.

I agree with your previous position, that there isn't sufficient information on these marriages as yet to accurately prove a greater success or failure.

Tai

[Patrick]

... in response to Re: Observation, posted by Tai on Nov 4, 2001

The data isn't even for gringo/latina marriages.  It's for natives of each country.

[Tai]

... in response to And....., posted by Patrick on Nov 4, 2001

Uh, yes Patrick I noticed that.

I was under the impression that this "data offering" was related to, or somehow inspired by, the question recently asked by "just curious" regarding divorce rates for Colombian/Gringo marriages.

I may be going out on a limb here but....

I am going to guess that the bulk of the registered posters and lurkers here are not citizens of Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, etc, who surf over to planet love to gather statistics on what is going on with divorce rates in their countries.

That being the case, your offering would be either just a random posting of data, OR intended for consideration towards your assertions regarding gringos marrying young Latinas....and thus the "I rest my case" comment.

I could have this all wrong. Perhaps I've misinterpreted the data?

Tai

[Patrick]

... in response to Re: And....., posted by Tai on Nov 4, 2001

While the data is not for gringo/latina relationships, I think it can be used to give men a little more insight into how various cultures regard divorce.  A high divorce rate within a country may be an indicator on how easily the ladies from that culture consider the prospect of divorce.

I would say that the higher divorce rates among the young women in some of the Latin countries is probably due simply to the fact that younger women are marrying in greater numbers in those countries and younger people tend to make less considered choices than older, more experienced people.

Could also be due to changing value systems in younger generations.  As you say, anyone can draw whatever conclusions they wish to draw depending on their personal bias.

I do think the guys in their 40s marrying women in their early 20s are more prone to problems though.  I admit I base that on anecdotal evidence (and very little of it) and a personal opinion that people in their early twenties are not very mature, despite what some agencies would have us believe.  I would clasify this opinion as something based on "common sense," and will continue to hold the opinion that it's most likely true until I see some credible evidence to the contrary.

[Tai]

... in response to For informational purposes, posted by Patrick on Nov 4, 2001

I can respect that. Like I said initially, I generally agree with your position.

Tai