The U.S. divorce rate has fallen for the third consecutive year, to its lowest level in more than 35 years, according to data released Thursday.Meanwhile, marriage is up a bit, at 32.3 marriages for every 1,000 unmarried women age 15 or older last year, from 31.9 in 2014. It was the highest since 2009, suggesting that, after a plunge of several decades, matrimony could be stabilizing.
“The decline has stopped,” said Wendy Manning, co-director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University.
Every year, the center uses census data to calculate the previous year’s marriage and divorce trends. This year’s calculations show that divorce has been dropping quickly, to a rate of 16.9, down from 17.6 in 2014 and a peak of almost 23 in 1980. ...
