"Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans"

[Clio the Leo]

Oh THIS is delicious!!! lol ..... Here's Nate Dog with another gem...

Divorce Rates Higher in States with Gay Marriage Bans

by Nate Silver @ 4:12 AM
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Over the past decade or so, divorce has gradually become more uncommon in the United States. Since 2003, however, the decline in divorce rates has been largely confined to states which have not passed a state constitutional ban on gay marriage. These states saw their divorce rates decrease by an average of 8 percent between 2003 and 2008. States which had passed a same-sex marriage ban as of January 1, 2008, however, saw their divorce rates rise by about 1 percent over the same period.

The table below details the divorce rates for the 43 states that reported their divorce statistics to the CDC in both 2003 and 2008. It is calculated by taking the total number of divorces in the state that year, and dividing it by the number of married persons, as reported by the Census Bureau. The result is then multiplied by two, since each divorce involves two people. This is different than how the divorce rate is sometimes calculated, which may be as a share of the overall population rather than the number of married persons; I prefer my approach because it will not penalize a state for having a lot of marriages (and therefore more opportunities for divorce). However, there are also more complicated versions of the divorce rate calculation that account for the age of the married couples, and so forth; these are probably superior, but mine is intended to be a simple approach. The table also lists the percentage change in the divorce rate between 2003 and 2008, and the current status of gay marriage and domestic partnerships within each state.

As is somewhat visually apparent, those states which have tended to take more liberal policies toward gay marriage have tended also to have larger declines in their divorce rates. In Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2004, the divorce rate has declined by 21 percent and is the lowest in the country by some margin. It is joined at the top of the list by Rhode Island and New Mexico, which do not perform same-sex marriages but idiosyncratically also have no statute or constitutional provision expressly forbidding them, as well as Maine, whose legislature approved same-sex marriage only to have it overturned (although not banned constitutionally) by its voters.

On the other hand, the seven states at the bottom of the chart all had constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage in place throughout 2008. The state which experienced the highest increase in its divorce rate over the period (Alaska, at 17.2 percent) also happens to be the first one to have altered its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, in 1998.



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http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/01/divorce-rates-appear-higher-in-states.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Deep13]

1. No surprise there...

...the most religious and conservative states have always had the greatest occurences of social problems.

[abluelady]

2. Kind of Makes You Wonder

Why the right is so against gay marriage. Marriages are failing left and right. More heterosexual couples are choosing not to marry. If the right wants the institution of marriage to be strong, they should be supporting those who want to get married!

[tandot]

3. Maybe it is too early in the morning but I can't find California on the chart

Otherwise, it makes an excellent point :)

[Clio the Leo]

4. have some coffee...

"The table below details the divorce rates for the 43 states that reported their divorce statistics to the CDC in both 2003 and 2008." ;)

[tandot]

5. Thanks. My reading skills require coffee to work properly :)

Half a cup more to go and I should be fine after that :hi:

[Clio the Leo]

6. mine too. ;) NT

[kenfrequed]

7. Hmm

I looked three times and couldn't find Minnesota. Could someone please tell me if I am blind?