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The Good and Bad News About Marriage and Divorce

The Good and Bad News About Marriage and Divorce
Couples kiss during a group Valentine's day wedding ceremony in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2012. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Mark Hendrickson
Mark Hendrickson
contributor
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The good news is that “Millennials Are Causing the U.S. Divorce Rate to Plummet.” As reported by Ben Steverman on Bloomberg.com, U.S. Census Bureau data show that millennials’ divorce rate is so much lower than baby boomers’ divorce rate that the overall divorce rate has plunged by 18 percent from 2008 to 2016.
The evidence indicates that young couples are less likely to rush into marriage and subsequently realize they had made a mistake. By waiting longer before tying the knot, millennials are increasing the odds that their marriages will last. Well done, “kids”!

Opting Out of Marriage

Unfortunately, as encouraging as a falling divorce rate sounds on the surface, there is some bad news associated with it, too.
Mark Hendrickson
Mark Hendrickson
contributor
Mark Hendrickson is an economist who retired from the faculty of Grove City College in Pennsylvania, where he remains fellow for economic and social policy at the Institute for Faith and Freedom. He is the author of several books on topics as varied as American economic history, anonymous characters in the Bible, the wealth inequality issue, and climate change, among others.
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