Are your risks for divorce lower than you think?

According to this study, they may be. The study analyzes religious affiliation, red/blue state links, divorce rates among religous persons, effects of age of marriage, etc. While we have all heard the 50% divorce rate ad nauseum, the fact is that you have a much lower divorce rate if you meet these guidelines:

• have an annual income over $50,000 (vs. under $25,000),
• wait seven months or more after marriage before having a baby (vs. before marriage),
• wait until you are over 25 to marry (vs. under 18),
• have an intact family of origin (vs. divorced parents), and
• have a religious affiliation and have some college.

You don't have to have all of them - every one of these factors results in a significant decrease in the divorce rate, with the least of them causing a 13% drop in divorce. Simply waiting until you are married to have children and waiting until you are over 25 to marry causes a 24% drop in divorce for each of those two items.

According to recent news reports, divorces and unwed parents cost taxpayers $112 billion per year. It might be good if we were to focus our efforts on increasing the number of positive factors above in order to alleviate the burdens on the taxpayers.