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Military divorce rates are down

On Behalf of | Dec 20, 2016 | Military Divorce |

Divorce is tough, no matter your race, religion, gender or chosen career. However, for servicemen and women, cutting ties with a spouse can be even harder, especially when one is deployed overseas. Those long periods of separation can really take their toll and, for that reason, many assume that the rates of military divorce are higher than those for civilians.

The methods for comparing the two aren’t statistically viable, though, the data aren’t clear, but we do know one thing: divorce among members of the military has been generally going down over the last decade.

At the start of the war in Afghanistan, the rate of divorce was 2.6 percent. From there, it skyrocketed up to 3 percent in 2005 and 3.7 percent in 2011 before dropping down to 3.1 percent in 2014.

What do the experts attribute this drop to? Women. While divorce rates among male military members have stayed essentially the same, women’s rates have dropped significantly in the same period. In 2011, it was 8 percent. By 2014, it had dropped to 6.5 percent. Female Marines accounted for the biggest statistical decline, moving from 9.5 percent in 2011 to 6.2 percent in 2014. In fact, rates are down for women in nearly all branches of the armed forces.

Of course, those percentages still represent a fairly high rate, and members of the military still need extra help when they decide to divorce. That’s when an attorney can help. He or she can walk you through the difficult process, making sure your interests are represented when it comes to child support, alimony and custody.

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