Society Divorce rates among elderly couples surging

An increasing number of Japanese couples get divorced, including many married for more than two decades. According to Japanese government data, 193,523 couples were divorced in Japan in 2020, 21.5 per cent of which were married for more than ten years. The divorce rate among older couples was thus 1.5 times higher than in 1990 and reached the highest level since 1947. Government data also show that the divorce rate among older spouses in Japan has been rising for seven decades. Overall, however, Japan's number of divorces has been declining since peaking at 289,836 in 2002. According to the Ministry of Health, one in three married couples in Japan gets divorced.

Okinawa has the highest divorce rate (calculated by the number of divorces per 1,000 inhabitants) with 2.36 in 2020, followed by Miyazaki (1.79), Fukuoka Prefecture (1.77), Hokkaido (1.75), and Osaka (1.73).

The health ministry released no information on why the number of "silver divorces" is increasing.




Here's an interesting piece from 2016, with some case studies:

thomas said:

Overall, however, Japan's number of divorces has been declining since peaking at 289,836 in 2002. According to the Ministry of Health, one in three married couples in Japan gets divorced.

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I wonder if this is because the number of marriages has been declining? You don't need to get a divorce if you didn't get married after all.

After 45 years , there are days when I think about it , LOL.

I keep buying flowers, cooking and doing other housework, hoping that I/we don't add to the surge...