• 27
  • July
    2011

Here is a piece of news Denver readers might absorb with interest - it seems that states that allow gay marriage have rates of divorce that are lower than the national average. It is not as simple as saying that permitting gay marriage leads to fewer divorces, however. The possible explanation seems to be much more complicated than that.

Data from the Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control's National Vital Statistics System show that five out of the ten states with the lowest number of divorces per thousand people are also five of the ten states that allow gay marriage.

Now, there are many ways to slice and dice statistics. Nevada, for example, has a very low divorce rate, but that is probably due to the large number of people who get married in Las Vegas, thus plumping up the state's marriage numbers, but then divorce elsewhere, which artificially reduces the local divorce rate. Also, this data should not be taken to suggest that gay men and women are more likely to stay together than are heterosexual couples - an expert on same-sex marriage has said that divorce rates are pretty much the same between same- sex and heterosexual couples.

The reason for the lower divorce rate in states that allow gay marriage may lie with a population's age and education. The states that allow gay marriage seem to have residents that are more educated and marry later in life. This means they have the discipline to get a degree and have had time to sort their own lives out - both things that are useful in making a marriage work.

In any event, it is an interesting correlation. Time will tell whether it holds true or is just the result of a statistical hiccup.

Source: U.S. News and World Report, "Divorce Rates Lower in States with Same-Sex Marriage," Danielle Kurtzleben, 6 July 2011.