Exploding. Booming. Financial planner, divorce analyst, and family law commentator Stacy Francis employs those terms and similar descriptors to the phenomenon of “gray divorce” in a recent article outlining the divorce rate by generation. So, what is the baby boomer divorce rate? What are the reasons for gray divorce increases?
How Does the Baby Boomer Divorce Rate Compare to the Average Divorce Rate by Generation?
As measured by virtually any yardstick, pulling the divorce trigger hardly spells something new for the expansive baby boomer demographic. Francis’ Kiplinger piece duly notes vetted research underscoring that “the divorce rate has roughly doubled since the 1990s for American adults aged 50 and older.” Indeed, if there is a distinctly notable takeaway regarding boomer decouplings, it is that they are consistently on the rise, commensurate with a falling divorce rate for the younger Millennial crowd.
Why is that?
Francis points to broad-based data spelling “a host of societal factors” that materially influence constant divorce interest and activity in 50-plus spouses nationally, especially women.
Why is the Baby Boomer Divorce Rate So High?
Here are some key catalysts:
A less judging mindset across the country concerning marital dissolution than in prior times gives women “more freedom to walk away from a less-than-ideal or emotionally draining situation.”
Comparatively longer life expectancy for women makes a growing number of unhappy female spouses willing to end a failed union and contemplate a lengthy future marked by upsides. The kids are now grown; many wives stick with unhappy marriages until children have matured in the belief that family union – even if marked mostly by downsides – is desirable to maintain.
Repercussions spawned by COVID’s reign (a “perfect storm” of marital ending discontent is cited relative to interconnected factors like income/job loss and relentlessly close confines not allowing for separate spousal routines)
Tampa Gray Divorce Lawyers Can Help
While there are plenty of gray divorce regrets to sort through, Francis duly notes that boomer-aged divorcing women often face some stark financial challenges following the end of a marriage. A proven and empathetic Tampa divorce attorney can help clients address money-tied issues and implement a post-divorce financial strategy that optimally promotes economic security.
