title: The slowing metabolism of marriage: figures from 1988 U.S. marital status life tables.
abstract: Marital status life tables for the United States, 1988, show a continuing retreat from marriage. For both sexes, the proportion ever marrying declined and the average age at first marriage rose. The 1988 rates imply that 43% of marriages end in divorce. That represents a slight decline from the 1983 figure, and suggests that divorce has peaked at a level below that estimated in earlier analyses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schoen
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Weinick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015993:Life Tables; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology