Which Marriages Last 10 Years?

March 2, 2010 -- Will your marriage survive at least 10 years? The odds are
worse if you're young or have no kids during the marriage, the CDC reports.
The findings come from a new CDC report on U.S. marriage and cohabitation.
The data were collected in 2002 in one-on-one interviews with a nationally
representative sample of some 7,600 women and 5,000 men.
The report is based on heterosexual relationships, defining cohabitation as
a man and a woman living together in a sexual relationship without being
married.
Here are some highlights of the report.
Which Marriages Last 10 Years?
Get married young, break up young. The odds of a marriage lasting at least
10 years are:
•         54% for women and 47% for
men who get married between ages 15 and 19
•         64% for women and 65% for
men who get married between ages 20 and 25
•         76% for women and 73% for
men who get married at 26 or older
 
Do children affect marriages? Apparently so. The odds of a marriage lasting
at least 10 years are:
•         34% for women and 37% for
men who have no children during the marriage
•         55% for women and 65% for
men who have a first child by their eventual husband or wife before
marriage
•         79% for women and 79% for
men whose first child is born at least eight months after marriage
•         Having children doesn't
mean the marriage lasts a lifetime. 1997 data show that only 57% of marriages
last 15 years, and only half last 20 years.
 
Will your marriage last longer if you first explore living together? Maybe
not -- even if you cohabit with your eventual spouse. The odds of a marriage
lasting at least 10 years are:
•         60% for women and 62% for
men who ever cohabited
•         61% for women and 63% for
men who cohabited with their first spouse
•         66% for women and 69% for
men who never cohabited
 
Education makes a difference. But there's at least one surprise here: Just
getting a high school diploma doesn't help, but a college degree makes a big
difference. The odds of a marriage lasting at least 10 years are:
•         54% for women and 56% for
men with a high school diploma or GED
•         63% for women and 61% for
men with no high school diploma or GED
•         62% for women and 64% for
men with some college but no degree
•         78% for women and 81% for
men with a bachelor's degree or higher
 
Your family structure makes a difference, too, most markedly for women. The
odds of a marriage lasting at least 10 years are:
•         67% for women and 66% for
men who lived in a two-parent household at age 14
•         48% for women and 63% for
men who did not live in a two-parent household at age 14
 
Marriage success rates differ by race and ethnicity. The odds of a marriage
lasting at least 10 years are:
•         51% for black,
non-Hispanic men and women
•         64% for white,
non-Hispanic men and women
•         68% for Hispanic women and
75% for Hispanic men
http://www .webmd.com/sex-relationships/news/20100302/which-marriages-last-10-years?src=RSS_PUBLIC