# Percentage of first marriages ending in divorce **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486 "2011-11-01T14:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/1 "2011-11-01T14:07:16Z")
It is frequently reported that about 50% of the US marriages end in divorce. I rather suspect that persons who have been divorced once get divorced again at a higher frequency than do persons who have never been divorced. What percent of the \*first \*marriages end in divorce? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/2 "2011-11-01T14:25:12Z")
[Summary of US Divorce Rates](http://www.divorcerate.org/) [(US) Remarriage divorce statistics](http://www.edivorcepapers.com/divorce-statistics/remarriage-divorce-statistics.html) The first page cites: _The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41% The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60% The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%_ So you might say there are “serial divorcers” skewing the average up. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/3 "2011-11-01T14:53:44Z")
I wonder if there is a statistical study that goes on to assess the people that marry a second and third time, what % of their spouses are on their first marriages? Could be that the 41% of first marriage divorce statistics is even being screwed up by these serial divorcees. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/4 "2011-11-01T16:28:51Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > [Summary of US Divorce Rates](http://www.divorcerate.org/) > [(US) Remarriage divorce statistics](http://www.edivorcepapers.com/divorce-statistics/remarriage-divorce-statistics.html) > > The first page cites: > \*The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41% > The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60% > The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%[/] And there are additional factors that impact “divorce risk” particularly the age at first marrige. Younger than 20 at first marriage = more likely to divorce than if you were over 20 at first marriage. [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad323.pdf](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad323.pdf) (see table 3 in particular) ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/5 "2011-11-01T17:49:15Z")
My personal stats: 1st marriage: divorce rate 100% (1/1) 2nd marriage: divorce rate 0% (0/1) I’ll come back with a complete update when I’m dead. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/6 "2011-11-01T18:46:19Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > My personal stats: > > 1st marriage: divorce rate 100% (1/1) > 2nd marriage: divorce rate 0% (0/1) > > I’ll come back with a complete update when I’m dead. I’m sure all those people who claimed 100% of second marriages end in divorce, and 0% of first marriages end in divorce, will be shattered by your groundbreaking data. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/percentage-of-first-marriages-ending-in-divorce/601486/7 "2011-11-02T14:57:29Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > My personal stats: > > 1st marriage: divorce rate 100% (1/1) > 2nd marriage: divorce rate 0% (0/1) > > I’ll come back with a complete update when I’m dead. We’ll accept results from a month prior to death, just so you don’t feel any pressure. The paperwork takes at least that long, right?