Divorce among older Americans used to be rare. A report from Bowling Green State University showed that between 1990 and 2012, divorce rates dropped among younger adults. But, in all age groups 45 and up, the rate increased significantly. People aged 55-64 were more than twice as likely to divorce in 2012 as they’d been in 1990, and those 65 and older were three times as likely to divorce.
The increase in divorce rate was much more significant for older women than for older men.
A separate report based on data from the U.S. Vital Statistics Report and the American Community Survey showed that the divorce rate among women aged 50 and older more than doubled from 1990 to 2017. The rates varied significantly from state to state, with South Carolina falling near the middle of the country and close to the national median.