Over-60s divorce boom

The only age group to show a rise in the divorce rate last year was the over-60s, the Office for National Statistics announced on August 31, 2006.

Whilst the divorce rate in England and Wales fell by 8% overall last year to its lowest level since 2000, there was an increase of 2% in the number of women aged 60 and over divorcing. There is further coverage of the story on the Saga Web site.
The absolute numbers of divorces is relatively small. In 2005, 8086 husbands and 4671 wives, over-60, petitioned for divorce – (each gender’s figures are listed separately as each party may fall into a different age band). Even so it further proof that the old certainties of ageing (like domestic stability) cannot be taken for granted. Dick Stroud