Help I need some statistics on divorce!?

Question

I'm doing a project and I'm having some troubles finding good statistics for divorce in Canada over the past year. All I know is that the rate is really high!

Answer 1

Oops... I see Canada now. Here is a revision.

Statistics Canada presents us with the following rates of divorce throughout the years:

Years # of divorces Rates per 100,000
pop. Rates per 100,000
Married couples
1921 558 6.4 N/A
1941 2,462 21.4 N/A
1961 6,563 36.0 N/A
1968* 11,343 54.8 N/A
1969 26,093 124.2 N/A
1981 67,671 271.8 1,174.4
1985** 61,980 253.6 1,103.3
1986 78,304 298.8 1,301.6
1987*** 96,200 362.3 1,585.5
1990 80,998 295.8 1,311.5
1994 78,880 269.7 1,246.3
1995 77,636 262.2 1,221.9
* Reform of Divorce Laws
** Divorce Act ("no fault")
*** Peak year


There is no question that divorce has greatly increased in Canada since 1968 when the Divorce Laws entered into effect. We have experienced a seven-fold increase by 1987 and a five-fold increase from 1968 to 1995. All in all, divorce rates peaked in 1987 and have since stabilized at a lower level. Whether they will go up or down in the future largely depends on demographic factors and on people's lifestyle as well as values. For instance, as more and more young couples choose to cohabit before marriage and as the "children of divorce" who are at a higher risk of divorcing enter into marriage themselves (Amato and Booth, 1996), there are chances that divorce rates could go up again one day. I emphasize the word "chances" because it is important to be cautious in making predictions. The truth is that no one can accurately predict the future. For instance, if the rates of women bearing children out-of-wedlock--what we call "never-married" mothers-- skyrocketed, divorce rates would go down as these never-married mothers have far fewer chances of ever marrying. Furthermore, if the proportion of adults between 25 and 45 in the population declines, the rates of divorce will go down because, as indicated below, this is the age range most susceptible to divorce. As you can see, predictions depend on many "ifs."

How do Canadian rates compare with others?

The researchers Ditch, Barnes, and Bradshaw (1995) present the following divorce rates per 1,000 for selected European countries.

Countries Rates per 1,000 Population Year

Germany 2.0 1994

Greece 0.7 1994

Spain 0.7 1993

France 1.9 1993

Italy 0.5 1994

Netherlands 2.4 1994

Portugal 1.4 1994

Sweden 2.5 1994

U.K. 3.1 1993

Let's add to this that in, 1994, the U.S. rate was 4.6 compared to 2.6 in Canada and 1.3 in Japan (the latter in 1989). The U.S. actually has the highest divorce rate in the Western world, followed by the U.K, and Canada. Thus, although our rate is modest compared to that of the U.S., it is nevertheless one of the highest in the world. Not a situation about which to be complacent.

After how many years of marriage do couples divorce?

Statistics Canada indicates that the highest rate of divorces per 1,000 population occurs at year 5 of marriage with over 3.5 divorces per 1,000 population. This rate swiftly diminishes each year thereafter, so that, by age 60, divorce is relatively rare. It is therefore not surprising that people in their late twenties are the most susceptible to divorce (Gentleman and Park, 1997). For instance, between 1990 and 1992, the rate of divorce per 1,000 married women was 2.2; but it was only 1.1 for women aged 45-49, and 0.65 for women 75-87 (versus 0.85 among older men).

1998 Canadian Divorce Statistics(1998 except where noted)
Marriage & Divorce:
Total divorces granted: 69,088
Rate per 1,000 population: 2.3
Province with the lowest divorce rate: Northwest Territories. Rate per 1,000 population: 1.4
Province with the highest divorce rate: Yukon. Rate per 1,000 population: 3.7
Current number of divorced adults (1999): 1,417,136
Average age at divorce: Males: 42
Females: 39.4
Average age at marriage for divorced people: Males: 28.3
Females: 25.7
Average duration of marriage: 13.7 years
Percentage of marriages expected to end in divorce within 30 years in 1998: 36%
Year of marriage with highest divorce rate: fifth
Total number of single people in 1999: Males: 6,969,698 (46% of men)
Females: 6,063,348 (39% of women)
Total number of married people in 1999: Males: 7,254,051 (48% of men)
Females: 7,281,830 (47% of women)
Total number of divorced people in 1999: Males: 609,509 (4% of men)
Females: 807,627 (5% of women)
Total number of widowed people in 1999: Males: 271,153 (2% of men)
Females: 1,235,078 (8% of women)
Province where married couples are least likely to divorce: Newfoundland. Percentage expected to divorce within 30 years: 23%
Province where married couples are most likely to divorce: Yukon. Percentage expected to divorce within 30 years: 55%

Answer 2

Here is a direct link to everything you need on divorce and the statistics that are associated with it. Best of luck to you.

http://www.divorcereform.org/stats.html

Answer 3

About midway down on this site, there are statistics for Canada, though in 1998. I believe some of this will still be of value to your research. All the best to you.