Welcome to the Warren & Migliaccio, L.L.P. blog, your trusted resource for family law matters in the state of Texas. I’m Christopher Migliaccio, one of the founding partners at the firm, and throughout my legal career, I’ve guided numerous clients through the complexities of divorce and child custody.
This blog, ‘Divorce and Custody Statistics 2024,’ covers the latest family law trends in Texas and nationwide. This information can empower you to make informed decisions as you navigate the legal landscape of family transitions.
Whether you’re contemplating divorce or facing child custody concerns, understanding current divorce and custody statistics can provide valuable context. If you have questions or require legal guidance, we offer a free consultation. Please don’t hesitate to contact us by phone at (888) 699-2598 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.
Throughout this blog, we’ll explore key statistics on divorce rates, child custody arrangements, and other relevant factors. Stay tuned for insights that can help you navigate your unique family law situation.
Key Divorce Statistics
According to the Centers for Disease Control (source), in the year 2022 (the most recent year where data is available):
- There are over 333,287,557 Americans
- There were 2,065,905 marriages (which equates to 6.2 people out of 1,000 getting married)
- There were at least 673,989 divorces
- The states of California, Hawaii, Indiana, Minnesota, and New Mexico did not provide data for that year. This means the true number is probably closer to 900,000.
Other Divorce, Cohabitation & Custody Statistics
The 2012 NHS study on divorce and cohabitation provides these custody statistics, which you can access here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr049.pdf. Below, we share the divorce and custody statistics, along with other information from the study.
- By age 30, 75% of women in the U.S. have been married
- By age 30 about 50% of women have cohabited outside of marriage.
- Unmarried cohabitations overall are less stable than marriages.
- The probability of divorce within 5 years is 20%, while premarital cohabitation breakups are 49%.
- After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33%, compared with 62% for cohabitations.
- Marriages that end do not always end in divorce; many end in separation and do not go through the divorce process.
- Racial differences in divorce after 3 years of separation: 91% white women, 77% Hispanic women, 67% black women.
- Overall, the probability of remarriage among divorced women was 54% in 5 years
- The probability of remarriage within 5 years is 58% for white women, 44% for Hispanic women, and 32% for black women.
- There is also a strong probability that 2nd marriages will end in separation or divorce (23% after 5 years and 39% after 10 years).
- The likelihood that divorced women will remarry has been declining since the 50s. Data shows that women who divorced in the 1980’s only had a 50% chance of remarrying.
- Partners who cohabit before their first marriage are more likely to divorce than those who do not.
- Age of women who were currently in a first marriage decreased over the past several decades.
- On average, the age of women cohabiting with an unmarried partner rose from 3% in 1982 to 11% in 2006-2010.
- The age of women aged 15 – 44 who were never married increased from 34% in 1982 to 38% in 2006–2010.
- From 2006 – 2010, black women were the most likely to be never married (55%) followed by U.S.-born Hispanic (49%), Asian (39%), and white women (34%).
- Asian (49%) and foreign-born Hispanic women (46%) had the highest proportions who were currently married for the first time from 2006 – 2010.
- Women’s first marriage age rose with education: 37% for those without a diploma, 58% for bachelor’s, and 63% for master’s.
- The proportion of women who are currently cohabiting decreases as educational attainment increases. 20% of women without a high school diploma cohabited, compared to 6.8% of women with a bachelor’s degree.
Other Divorce, Cohabitation & Custody Statistics
- The average age at first marriage was 25.8 for women and 28.3 for men from 2006 – 2010.
- From 2006 to 2010, very few people married under the age of 18, with 4% of women and 1% of men doing so.
- From 2006 – 2010, the probability of a first marriage lasting at least 10 years was 68% for women and 70% for men.
- Looking at 20 years, the probability that first marriages will survive was 52% for women and 56% for men in 2006–2010.
- Asian women (69%) and foreign born Hispanic men (70%) had the highest probability of first marriages lasting 20 years.
- Black women (37%) had the lowest chances of first marriages lasting 20 years, significantly lower than for white women (54%).
- There was no significant difference in the probability of first marriage lasting 20 years between white (54%) and black (53%) men.
- Some of those who married in the teen years had a lower probability of a first marriage reaching the 20th anniversary.
- People who lived with both biological parents at age 14 had a higher probability of a first marriage lasting 20 years compared with those who lived in other family living arrangements.
- The probability of their first marriage lasting 20 years was highest among women who reported they were raised in ‘‘Other religions’’ (65%).
- American women without births at marriage had a 56% chance of 20-year survival, compared to 33% with births.
- Women who gave birth to their first child 8 months or more after they began their first marriage had a higher probability (77%) of their marriages reaching 15 years
- Those women with previously married husbands had a 38% chance of a 20-year marriage, compared to 54%.
- Those women whose first husbands had children had a 37% chance of a 20-year marriage, compared to 54%.
- About 50% of women divorced within a year of separation, 79% in 3 years, and 86% in 5 years.
- Women without births at separation divorced within a year at 68%, compared to 45% with children.
Key Child Custody Statistics
- According to UNICEF, there were 73,602,753 children under the age of 18 in the United States in 2023.
- According to Bloomberg, households headed by married parents with children under age 18 fell to 17.8% in 2021. That’s down from more than 40% since 1970.
- There are approximately 12.9 million custodial parents in the U.S., which represents around 4% of the total population.
- On average, the mother receives around 65% of custody time, while the father typically gets around 35%.
- In only 18% of cases do the parents agree that the father should have custody.
- In April of 2018, 12.9 million custodial parents lived with 21.9 million children under 21.
- About 21.9 million children had a parent who lived outside their household in 2018, representing more than one-fourth (26.5%) of all children under 21 years of age.
- In 2018, about 4 of every 5 (79.9%) of the 12.9 million custodial parents were mothers. One of every five custodial parents were fathers (20.1%)
- Custodial parents have become more likely to be fathers over the past 24 years, increasing from 16% in 1994 to 20.1% in 2018.
- Approximately 30.1% of these children were in poverty, about three times the rate of children in households with both parents present (11.1 %).
- Approximately half (48.8%) of all Black children have a parent who lives outside their household.
- One-half of all custodial parents (49.4%) had either legal or informal child support agreements.
- In 2017, about 7 in 10 custodial parents (69.8%) received at least some payments.
- Less than half (45.9%) of custodial parents entitled to child support received full payments.
- In 2017, custodial parents didn’t receive $30 billion in child support. They received 62.2% of this, averaging $3,431 per parent for the year.
- Over half (58%) of custodial parents received some type of non-cash support on behalf of their children from noncustodial parents.
- The proportion of custodial parents supposed to receive support but received none rose from 24.2% in 1993 to 30.2% in 2017.
- The number of custodial parents expected to receive child support decreased from 7.3 million in 2003 to 5.4 million in 2017.
- In 51% of custody cases, both parents agreed — on their own — that mom will become the custodial parent.
- In 29% of custody cases, the parties made the decision without any third-party involvement.
- In 11% of custody cases, mediation determined that mom would have custody.
- In 5% of custody cases, a custody evaluation resolved the issue.
Other Child Custody Statistics
- Only 4 % of custody cases went to trial and of that 4%, only 1.5% completed custody litigation.
- Custodial fathers tended to be older than custodial mothers. Over half (54.6%) of custodial fathers were 40 years or older, while the proportion for custodial mothers was 41.6%.
- Custodial mothers are more likely to have never married (40.4%) than other statuses.
- Custodial fathers were more likely than mothers to be divorced (39.1%) and less likely to be never married (29.3%).
- Less than half (44.2%) of custodial mothers were non-Hispanic White, 28.1% were Black, and 24.1% were of Hispanic origin.
- Custodial fathers were more likely than custodial mothers to be non-Hispanic White (62.9%) and less likely to be Black (15.1%).
- In 2018, 46.7% of custodial mothers had two or more children, compared to 37.5% of custodial fathers.
- Custodial parents with one child had a family poverty rate of 16.7%.
- The poverty rate for custodial parents with two or more children was about twice as high at 33.1%.
- Among custodial parents who had one child, 11.3% of parents had less than a high school education and 23.5% had obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- For custodial parents with two or more children, 14.8% had less than a high school education and 18.3% had a bachelor’s degree or more.
- Half of custodial mothers were employed full-time in 2017, while 21.6% did not have a job.
- Full-time, year-round employment for custodial fathers in 2017 was higher, 74.3%, and 9.2% did not work at any point in the year.
- Half of all 12.9 million custodial parents had a court order to receive support from the noncustodial parent(s).
- Of the 6.4 million custodial parents with child support agreements, 88.2% reported that these agreements were formal legal orders.
Call An Experienced Texas Family Law Firm Today
We understand that navigating divorce and child custody matters can be overwhelming and custody statistics only tell so much. At Warren & Migliaccio, L.L.P., our family law attorneys are dedicated to guiding you through this process with compassion and skill. If you have questions or require legal guidance, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consultation. Call us at (888) 584-9614 to schedule an appointment.
Let us fight for you to ensure your future is as bright as possible.
