Marriage Myth Busted – Divorce Rate NOT 50%
A common and oft repeated statement about marriage is that “50% of all marriages end in divorce.” This appears to be a myth.
The figure does not come from any long-term analysis, but rather, the fact that the number of new divorces each year is roughly 50% of the number of new marriages.
However, the distortion in these numbers is the fact that people with failed marriages often marry and divorce a number of times.
Now comes new data from my friend, pollster George Barna. He has found that of all Americans who have ever married, only one-third have ever been divorced.
This means it is a myth that one in two marriages end in divorce. In fact, it’s only one in three marriage. This news should be an encouragement to young people frightened by the “50-50” marriage myth.
Another marriage myth is that religious people are just as likely to divorce as people to whom religion is of no importance.
Barna found that the percentage of people who have divorced is much higher among non-Christians and liberals than it is among Catholics, evangelicals, and conservatives. Furthermore, compared to the general population, where one in three divorce, among evangelical Christians, the divorce rate is about one in four (26%).

Evangelicals less likely to divorce, Barna survey says