Gray divorce refers to couples 50 and older. Researchers find that since 1990, the U.S. divorce rate of this group has doubled, and they predict it will grow by a third by 2030. The same phenomenon is occurring worldwide. Researchers named it “The Gray Divorce Revolution.” Yet most people don’t know it has been happening or how it impacts family members and their relationships.
When you hear the words divorce and relationships, what comes to mind?
Thirty years of research about families in later life indicate that parent-child relationships are essential to both parents and children throughout their lifespan and that the quality of relationships between parents and their adult children is associated with the psychological functioning of both generations. The late psychiatrist and researcher John Bowlby asserted that the parent-child bond is “from the cradle to the grave.”