Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Paul | Delivered February 10, 2020

US Divorce Statistics

Goals

To provide 4-5 statistical insights into divorce in the US to focus on the number of people that get divorced in the U.S. each year, the number involved in child support litigation, spousal maintenance (alimony), who would be interested in protecting their assets, percentage of people involved in divorces (or post-divorce litigation) who would be able to afford $1,000 per month (even if they don't have $25,000 in cash savings), and who would likely to have an asset (such as rental property) that could be used as collateral for a loan.

Early Findings

Our research on divorce statistics in the US was unable to find any financial information that was publicly available specific to Americans who are involved in divorces or post-divorce litigation. However we were able to find financial information on Americans that did pertain to what they could afford. Here are other key pieces of information we found: 
Divorce Statistics in the USFrom earlier findings, about 50% of marriages end up in divorce or separation. This is broken down to 41% of first marriages, 60% of second marriages, and 73% of third marriages that end up in divorce.
According to CDC statistics, 3.4 million Americans are embroiled in the child support litigation process at any given moment.
 550,000 Americans in 2017 were either paying or receiving alimony. 
By generation, 28% of millennials are keeping their finances separate after marriage to help protect their assets, which is more than double the number of Gen X and baby boomer couples who keep their money separate.
According to a 2018 study by the US Federal Reserve, 40% of Americans would be unable to even afford $400 for an unexpected expense or lawyer fees, and many Americans are struggling to save, with less than two-fifths feeling that they are on track with their savings.
Americans who divorce after age 50 can expect their overall wealth and assets to drop by 50%.