Weekly Bulletin issue no. 38, 1997 <sti>Stikktittel

Divorce instead of silver anniversary for one in four couples married in 1970s

Although the number of divorces in Norway has risen throughout this century, so far there are no cohorts where more than right around a quarter of the marriages have ended in divorce.

Of those married in 1974, 26.3 per cent were divorced 21 years later. This is the highest divorce rate registered so far for any marriage cohort, i.e. all couples married in the same calendar year. The figure is taken from a new report on divorces from 1886 to 1995 which will be published the week of September 22 (week 39). It shows the divorce rate of every marriage cohort.

Divorce rates are rising

After five years of marriage, two per cent of the marriage cohort of 1950 were divorced. The same rate for the 1970 cohort was five per cent, and of those who married in 1990, nine per cent were divorced after the same number of years.

Another comparison shows that of those who married in 1955, five per cent were divorced before their 10th anniversary. The comparative rate for 1975 was 14 per cent, while for 1985 it was 22 per cent. The two examples illustrate a pattern with few exceptions: Given the same number of years since the marriage, the divorce rate rises the later the marriage was entered into during the period under study (1886-1995).

Seven-year crisis--a myth?

Divorce rates are highest after four to eight years of marriage, and this concentration has become more pronounced throughout this century. The divorce rate is thus high after relatively few years, but the claim that the seventh year of marriage is the most critical does not appear to be correct.

Source

Turid Noack and Svenn-Erik Mamelund: Divorce then and now. Samfunnsspeilet 3/97. Svenn-Erik Mamelund, Helge Brunborg and Turid Noack: Divorces in Norway 1886-1995 for calendar years and marriage cohorts. Report 97/19. To be published week 39. More information: Turid Noack, tel. +47 21 09 48 60, e-mail: tno@ssb.no or Svenn-Erik Mamelund, tel. +47 21 09 44 84, e-mail: sem@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 38, 1997