Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2022 Sep 1;77(9):1710-1720. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbac057.
We traced the historical arc of the rise in gray divorce (i.e., divorce that occurs among adults aged 50 and older) in the United States since 1970, elucidating unique patterns for middle-aged (aged 50-64) versus older (aged 65 and older) adults.
Data from the 1970, 1980, and 1990 U.S. Vital Statistics Reports and the 2010 and 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) were used to chart the trends in gray divorce over the past half century. Drawing on the 2019 ACS, we estimated gray divorce rates across sociodemographic subgroups for today's middle-aged and older adults. We pooled the 2010 (N = 757,835) and 2019 (N = 892,714) ACS data to assess whether divorce risks are shifting for middle-aged versus older adults.
The gray divorce rate was low and grew only modestly between 1970 and 1990 before doubling by 2010. Since 2010, the rate has decreased slightly (but the decrease is not statistically significant). The gray divorce rate has stagnated among middle-aged adults but continues to climb among older adults.
Our study illustrates the graying of divorce over the past half century. Nowadays, 36% of U.S. adults getting divorced are aged 50 or older. The only age group with an increasing divorce rate is adults aged 65 and older, raising new questions about how they will navigate old age.
本研究追溯了自 1970 年以来美国“灰色离婚”（即 50 岁及以上成年人之间的离婚）上升的历史轨迹，阐明了中年（50-64 岁）和老年（65 岁及以上）成年人之间独特的模式。
利用 1970 年、1980 年和 1990 年美国人口统计报告和 2010 年和 2019 年美国社区调查（ACS）的数据，绘制了过去半个世纪灰色离婚趋势图。根据 2019 年 ACS，我们估计了当今中年和老年人的社会人口统计学亚组中灰色离婚率。我们合并了 2010 年（N=757835）和 2019 年（N=892714）ACS 数据，以评估中年和老年人的离婚风险是否在转移。
灰色离婚率较低，1970 年至 1990 年间仅略有上升，到 2010 年翻了一番。自 2010 年以来，离婚率略有下降（但下降不具有统计学意义）。中年人的灰色离婚率停滞不前，但老年人的离婚率继续攀升。
本研究说明了过去半个世纪离婚率的变化。如今，美国 36%的离婚成年人年龄在 50 岁或以上。唯一离婚率上升的年龄组是 65 岁及以上的成年人，这引发了关于他们将如何安度晚年的新问题。
