For Four Straight Years, US Military Divorce Rates Have Been Steady
1. For Four Straight Years,
US Military Divorce Rates
Have Been Steady
Law Office of Gordon N. Shayne
2. From 2013 until 2017, the divorce rate among married US troops has remained consistent –
ranging from three to 3.1 percent.
Recent data released by the Pentagon shows that about 21,290 out of 689,060 married troops in
the US divorced in 2017. That is a three percent divorce rate.
This percentage is a slight decrease from 2016 data which recorded that3.1 percent (22,250 of
707,230) of married US soldiers got divorced.
However, although the numbers look good, many studies have shown a decline in the marital
satisfaction rate where a service member is involved. This is due to numerous factors, including
post-traumatic stress disorder and long periods of separation.
Breaking Down Military Divorce By Sex
The divorce rates among female troops continue to surpass that of male soldiers. For instance, in
2016, about 2.8 percent of enlisted male troops were divorced, compared to the eight percent rate
of female military divorcees.
Additionally, since 2012, the rate for female Marines continues to increase from the original 7.1
percent. The record-high was in 2010 when the rate reached 9.9 percent.
3. Marriage and Deployment
Psychologists and researchers working with RAND Corporation, a national research company,
studied the association between marriage failure and deployment. The researchers interviewed
1,358 military families from March 2011 to August 2012.
The study found that military deployment is related to lower marital satisfaction, especially during
the first deployment. Service members are also found to have high rates of PTSD cases, which
according to the study is associated with negative marital functioning. However, the study did not
find if low marital satisfaction is affected by combat-related trauma accumulated over multiple
deployments.
Military Marriage and Incentives
The study suggested that one of the reasons the divorce rate in the military held steady is the
incentives that come with military marriage.
Apart from their bi-monthly paycheck, active married soldiers in the US receive shopping benefits,
Basic Allowance for Subsistence, and Basic Allowance for Housing.
Although the rates have been steady in the past few years, married military members and their
spouses may still require counseling to maintain the health of their marriage. This is especially
because war-related trauma may be detrimental to the personal lives of soldiers.
