Indiana above average for marriage, divorces

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A first-of-its-kind report was recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau that illustrates the way families and marriages are shaping the United States.

The report details information gathered in 2009 about marriages, divorces how children are affected, and widowed persons. Nationally, the divorce rate averages just under 10 percent. Men and women who tied the knot in 2009 averaged about 18.3 percent.

In Indiana, the trend was higher than the national average. 19.3 percent of Hoosiers walked the aisle in 2009, but 10.8 percent divorced.

Divorce rates for men were much higher than average, 11.0% - near the top in the country.

The study showed that areas with higher marriage rates also experienced higher divorce rates. The highest rates in the country were in the South and West. Alaska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Maine ranked at the top for divorces.

Utah, Wyoming, and Arkansas, which had the highest marriage rates, were also higher than average in divorce rates.

New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts ranked among the lowest in divorces.

The report also showed that people were waiting until later in life to wed. In 1970, the median age for first marriages increased from 22.5 years to 28.4 for men and 20.6 years to 26.5 for women.

Marriages are at an all-time low. In 2000, 57 percent of adults over age 18 were married, while in 2009 only 52 percent were married.

Other findings showed nearly 1.5 percent of all children in 2009 lived in a home of a parent who divorced the previous year. And nearly three-quarters of children living with a divorced parent live with a household run by their mother. And in 2009, nearly 23 percent of single mothers received public assistance, compared with 15 percent of divorced fathers.