Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University
ScholarWorks@BGSU ScholarWorks@BGSU
National Center for Family and Marriage
Research Family Pro=les
College of Arts and Sciences
2023
FP-23-18 First Divorce Rate, 2021 FP-23-18 First Divorce Rate, 2021
Krista K. Westrick-Payne
Bowling Green State University
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ncfmr_family_pro=les
How does access to this work bene=t you? Let us know! How does access to this work bene=t you? Let us know!
Repository Citation Repository Citation
Westrick-Payne, Krista K., "FP-23-18 First Divorce Rate, 2021" (2023).
National Center for Family and
Marriage Research Family Pro=les
. 319.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/ncfmr_family_pro=les/319
This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts and Sciences at
ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in National Center for Family and Marriage Research
Family Pro=les by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@BGSU.
http://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr
(419) 372-3119
Family Profile No. 18, 2023
First Divorce Rate, 2021
Author: Krista K. Westrick-Payne
In 2021, the overall U.S. divorce rate remained low at 14.0 divorces per 1,000 married women–the lowest since
1970 (Marino, 2022). However, the overall divorce rate includes divorces from both first marriages and higher-
order marriages. It is important to examine the first divorce rate separately, because first marriages are less
likely to end in divorce than remarriages (
Cohen, 2016). Additionally, the traditional estimation of marriage and
divorce rates has been restricted to marriages and divorces among the female population, but recognizing
possible sex differences this profile provides separate estimates for both males and females using U.S Census
data from the American Community Survey provided by IPUMS-USA. More specifically, we examine the first
divorce rate (defined as the number of first marriages that ended in divorce per 1,000 first marriages) among
first married males and females aged 18 years and older. This Family Profile is an update to previous profiles on
the first divorce rate (
FP-21-10, FP-20-02, FP-18-15, FP-16-19, FP-14-09, FP-11-09, and FP-10-06).
Trends in the First Divorce Rate for Males and Females
• The first divorce rate has decreased overall
since 2008, from 16.9 divorces per 1,000 males
in a first marriage to 11.8 divorces per 1,000
males in a first marriage in 2021. Among
females, it decreased from 18.7 in 2008 to 12.9
in 2021.
• An estimated 624,790 males and 682,372
females experienced a first divorce in 2021.
Figure 1. First Divorce Rate for Males and Females, 2008–
2021
Source: NCFMR Analysis of American Community Survey, 1-
year estimates, 2008–2021 (IPUMS-USA)
First Divorce Rate by Age for Males and Females
Figure 2. First Divorce Rate for Males and Females 18 and
Older by Age, 2021
Source: NCFMR Analysis of American Community Survey,
1-year estimates, 2021 (IPUMS-USA
• Generally, as age increases the rate of first
divorce decreases.
• The highest first divorce rates were among those
aged 18 to 29 with 18.5 per 1,000 married males
and 19.9 per 1,000 married females experiencing
a first divorce in 2021.
• The lowest first divorce rate were observed
among those aged 75 and older (5.0 males and
5.7 females per 1,000 married). An estimated
10,614 males and 13,285 females aged 75 and
older in the United States experienced a first
divorce in 2021.
16.9
15.6
15.9
16.2
16.6
15.0
14.0
14.4
13.7
13.5
12.9
12.7
11.7
11.8
18.7
17.3
17.5
17.5
17.6
16.3
15.7
15.0
15.4
14.6
14.3
14.3
12.9
12.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Male Female
18.5
19.9
17.0
17.4
13.1
14.4
8.4
8.4
4.4
4.8
2.5
4.1
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Males Females
18-29 30-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+
First Divorce Rate by Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity for Males and Females
• In 2021, Black females and Black males experienced the highest first divorce rates (24.5 and 22.6,
respectively).
• Asian males and females had the lowest first divorce rates (7.7 and 8.3, respectively).
• While most females had higher first divorce rates than their same race/ethnic male counterparts, this was
not the case among those categorized as “Other,” for whom the first divorce rate for males was 16.4 and
for females it was 14.6.
• Native-born males and females have higher first divorce rates than their native counterparts (see Figure 4).
This was the case for each racial/ethnic group examined, except among Black males for whom the first
divorce rate of foreign-born males was higher than that of native-born males (25.7 versus 24.0, not shown).
Figure 3. First Divorce Rate for Males and Females 18 and Older by Race
and Ethnicity, 2021
Figure 4. First Divorce Rate for
Males and Females 18 and Older by
Nativity, 2021
Source: NCFMR Analysis of American Community Survey, 1-year estimates,
2021 (IPUMS-USA)
Note:
*Denotes non-Hispanic; The category “Asian” includes those who
identified as Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) and the
category “Other” includes those who identified as American Indian and Alaskan
Native (AIAN) due to small sample sizes.
Source: NCFMR Analysis of American
Community Survey, 1-year estimates,
2021 (IPUMS-USA)
First Divorce Rate by Educational Attainment for Males and Females
• Patterns of first divorce by educational
attainment differed slightly between males and
females in 2021. Although the lowest divorce
rates were among those with the highest
educational attainment regardless of sex, there
were differences in the group who experienced
the highest divorce rate.
• Among males who had at least a master’s
degree, 7.8 per 1,000 in a first marriage
experienced a divorce. Among their female
counterparts, 10.2 per 1,000 first divorced in
2021.
• The highest first divorce rate among males was
among those with a high-school level of
education (15.1), whereas among females it was
among those with some college education, but
no degree (16.4).
Figure 5. First Divorce Rate for Males and Females 18 and
Older by Educational Attainment, 2021
Source: NCFMR Analysis of American Community Survey,
1-year estimates, 2021 (IPUMS-USA)
10.8
11.4
22.6
24.5
7.7
8.3
11.4
14.9
16.4
14.6
15.9
17.0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Males Females
White* Black* Asian* Hispanic Other* 2+ races*
12.3
13.6
10.0
10.9
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Males Females
Native born Foreign born
11.1
12.8
15.1
13.9
14.0
16.4
11.7
15.6
10.0
10.6
7.8
10.2
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Males Females
<H.S. H.S./GED Some College
Associates Bachelors Masters+
Data Source:
Ruggles, S., Flood, S., Sobek, M., Brockman D., Cooper, G., Richards, S., Schouweiler, M. (2023). IPUMS USA: Version 13.0 [dataset].
Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS. https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V12.0
References:
Allred, C. & Schweizer, V. J. (2020). First Divorce Rate in the U.S., 2018. Family Profiles, FP-20-02. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for
Family & Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-20-02
Anderson, L. R. (2016). First divorce rate in the U.S., 2014. Family Profiles, FP-16-19. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family &
Marriage Research. https://www.bgsu.edu/ncfmr/resources/data/family-profiles/anderson-first-divorce-rate-2014-fp-16-19.html
Cohen, P. N. (2016). Multiple-decrement life tables from 2010-2012 American Community Survey data marital events. Retrieved from
https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/life-table-says-divorce-rate-is-52-7/
Gibbs, L. & Payne, K. K. (2011). First divorce rate, 2010. Family Profiles, FP-11-09. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family &
Marriage Research. http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/FP-11-09.pdf
Payne, K. K. (2011). First divorces in the U.S., 2008. Family Profiles, FP-10-06. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family & Marriage
Research. http://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/FP-10-06.pdf
Payne, K. K. (2018). First divorce rate in the U.S., 2016. Family Profiles, FP-18-15. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family &
Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-18-15
Marino, F. (2022). Divorce rate in the U.S.: Geographic variation, 2021. Family Profiles, FP-22-26. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for
Family & Marriage https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-22-26
Reynolds, L. (2021). First divorce rate in the U.S., 2019. Family Profiles, FP-21-10. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family &
Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-21-10
Stykes, B., Gibbs, L., & Payne, K. K. (2014). First divorce rate, 2012. Family Profiles, FP-14-09. Bowling Green, OH: National Center for
Family & Marriage Research. https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/FP-14-09-
divorce-rate-2012.pdf
Suggested Citation
Westrick-Payne, K. K. (2023). First divorce rate, 2021.
Family Profiles, FP-23-18
. National Center for Family &
Marriage Research. https://doi.org/10.25035/ncfmr/fp-23-18
This project is supported with assistance from Bowling Green State University. From 2007 to 2013, support was also provided by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those
of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of any agency of the state or federal government.
