Thanksgiving is upon us, with Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa close behind. For families experiencing divorce, these winter holidays will never be the same.
In 2012, researchers Susan Brown and I-Fen Lin of Bowling Green University’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research published findings revealing that from 1990 to 2010, the divorce rate for those 50 and older doubled, a phenomenon known as “gray divorce.” This trend has continued, with a significant rise in divorce rates among older couples in the years since.
Recently, the same researchers released a new analysis of divorce rates from 1990 to 2021, which found that the most significant rise had been among couples 65 and older: It tripled from 1990 to 2021. Their analysis also found that the divorce rate for those 45 and older rose. So, the divorce rate of the Gen-X generation is now also part of the phenomenon.