Marriage and Divorce Statistics

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The statistics show that second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages, while third marriages and beyond have a significantly high divorce rate of around 76%. Overall, the divorce rate remains above 50%, indicating that it is more likely than not for a marriage to end in divorce. This high probability of harm and severity of harm associated with divorce could be considered as evidence of marriage being a reckless or negligent activity. Comparatively, getting married may be seen as an inherently negligent activity similar to owning a lion as a pet or having a trampoline next to a radioactive waste pile.

If you want insight on how to make love last, you might ask friends, family, a therapist, or a pastor for advice. You probably wouldn't think to turn to a divorce lawyer. But my guest, James Sexton, who does that very job in New York City, says there may be few people who have a better perspective on how to hold a marriage together, than the guy who's got a front row seat to how they fall apart.

James is the author of If You're in My Office, It's Already Too Late: A Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Staying Together, and today on the show he shares what he's learned from overseeing over a thousand divorces that you can use to reverse engineer a relationship that lasts. We discuss the five types of infidelity James sees in his practice and the approach to marriage that will prevent affairs. We then get into common sources of conflict in a marriage, including sex, finances, and kids, and how to address these issues so you never end up in James', or any other divorce lawyer's, office.