SILVER The SPLITTERS
More older women and men are getting divorced than ever before
T HE NUMBER of people aged 70 and over getting divorced is at a record high, with experts saying it’s likely because couples are waiting for children to leave home.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that some 3,047 people aged 70 plus were granted divorces in England and Wales in 2016 - more than eight a day. The majority of those divorces were granted to men - on 2,037 occasions - while women made up the remaining 1,010. Records go back as far as 2005. That year some 1,993 couples aged 70 and over were given divorces. By 2008 the figure had crept past the 2,000 benchmark - with some 2,038 divorces having taken place, and the figure has generally risen each year since.
While the figures relate to new divorces granted in the year, overall there were some 664,614 people aged 70 and above registered as being divorced in 2016.
Some 301,309 of those were aged 70-74 and 181,513 were aged 75-79.
A further 118,139 people aged between 80-84 were registered as divorced, followed by 63,654 aged 85 and older.
There were some 280,012 people aged 70 and over who were divorced in 2005 - meaning the figure has more than doubled in the 11 years since.
The attitude towards divorce has shifted over the years.
Before 1945 it was a taboo subject, but changing attitudes and a more liberal approach means more people are able to permanently separate without the social stigma there once was.
Family law group Resolution said: “Once children have flown the nest older people may realise they no longer have anything in common when they start spending more time with each other, or they may have realised this for some time but waited for the children to leave home before acting on it. “Some people have a late midlife crisis and want to make the most of their final years.”