DIVORCE rates are at their lowest level since the mid-1970s, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), drawing on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
In 2023, there were 2.3 divorces per 1,000 residents aged 16 and over, continuing the downward trend since the start of the millennium, when divorce rates were at 3.4 per 1,000 adult residents.
A second AIFS report shows that the trend of men and women marrying at a later age has continued. Women now marry at 30 years and men at 31 – around 8 years older than their counterparts were marrying in 1975.
Senior Research Fellow at AIFS, Dr Lixia Qu, said a gradual drop in the marriage rate, people marrying at a later age, and more couples living together before marriage, are all contributing to the decline in divorce.
“These days most couples live together before getting married – if they marry at all – which was unusual 50 years ago,” she said.
“Being able to ‘try before you buy’ was less of an option for young couples in the 1970s and earlier, due to stigma and societal expectations.”
Dr Qu said the decline in divorce does not necessarily indicate longer-lasting relationships than used to be the case.
“In 2023, 83 per cent of couples had been living together before marriage, compared to just 16 per cent in 1975. Many couples separate without entering into marriage, which is not captured in the divorce statistics,” she said.
The age at divorce has also risen for both men and women. In 2023, the median age at divorce was 47 years for men and 44 years for women – up from the early 30s in 1980.
In other findings, people who marry at a younger age are more likely to divorce. For men, the highest divorce rate is between 25-29 years, and for women, it is 24 years and under, and 25-29 years.