Divorce myth busted

It’s one of those “common knowledge” statistics, one that is being bandied about a lot these days as liberals try to come up with justifications for gay marriage and domestic partner laws.

Fifty percent of marriages end up in divorce.

You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, everybody “knows” it.

But it’s not true.

According to a random telephone survey of 5,017 adults conducted by the Ventura, Calif., based Barna Group, only 33 percent of people who have been married have experienced a divorce. The survey also found that marriage is still the norm, with 22 percent of adults never marrying. Among Americans 18 and older, whether they had been married or not, 25 percent have experienced a divorce (as participants or as children).

Faith also makes a considerable difference. While overall 78 percent of adults get married, among born-again Christians the rate is 84 percent, compared with 74 percent of adults in non-Christian faiths, and 65 percent among atheists and agnostics.

Groups with above-average divorce rates include poor adults (39 percent — hey, what about “for richer or poorer?”), baby boomers (38 percent), members of non-Christian faiths (38 percent), African-Americans (36 percent), and people who consider themselves to be liberal on social and political matters (37 percent).

Among those with lower-than-average rates of divorce are Catholics (28 percent), evangelicals (26 percent), upscale adults (22 percent), Asians (20 percent) and those who deem themselves to be conservative on social and political matters (28 percent).

The maximum margin of error for the study is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.