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Fewer Marriages Carved In Silver

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The New York Times

Published: September 20, 2007

Don't stock up on silver anniversary cards. More than half the Americans who might have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversaries since 2000 were divorced, separated or widowed before reaching that milestone, according to the latest census survey, released Wednesday.

It hasn't happened since World War II, but women and men who married in the late 1970s had a less than even chance of being married 25 years later.

'We know that ... between 40 percent and 50 percent of marriages dissolve,' said Barbara Risman, executive officer of the Council on Contemporary Families research group. 'Now when people marry, everyone wonders, is this one of those marriages that will be around for a while.'

David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values, a marriage research and advocacy group, said he was struck that the percentage of people who marked a 15th anniversary declined. 'This seems to be saying more recent marriages are more fragile,' he said.

About 80 percent of first marriages in the late 1950s lasted at least 15 years. Among people who married in the late 1980s for the first time, 61 percent of the men and 57 percent of the women were married 15 years later.

The 2004 Census Bureau survey confirmed that most Americans marry, but they marry later and are slightly more likely to marry more than once.

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