For every thousand people, 500 stay married and 500 divorce.

Of the 500 of those divorcees, 125 stay single and 375 marry again.

Of the 375, 185 stay married and 190 divorce.

Of the 190 divorcees, 133 marry and 57 stay single.

Of the 133, 54 stay married and 79 divorce.

Of the 79, 32 stay single and 47 stay married.

Therefore, 786 of the original 1,000 end up married after all is said and done.

In many developed countries, divorce rates increased significantly during the twentieth century. Among the states in which divorce has become commonplace are the United States, South Korea, and members of the European Union, with the exception of Malta (where all civil marriages are for life, because civil divorce is banned). In the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and some other developed Commonwealth countries, this divorce boom developed in the last half of the twentieth century.

In the United States in 2005, there were 7.5 new marriages per 1,000 people, and 3.6 divorces per 1,000, a ratio which has existed for many individual years since the 1960s.

In addition, cultural acceptance of the single-parent family has resulted in many women deciding to have children outside marriage.

The statistics of a survey conducted by Citibank on divorce in the United States suggested that more than fifty percent of divorced couples cited money problems as the cause of their divorce.

An annual study in the UK by management consultant Grant Thornton estimates the main causes of divorce based on the findings of matrimonial lawyers. The main causes in 2004 (2003) were:

* Extramarital affairs - 27% (29%)

* Family strains - 18% (11%)

* Emotional/physical abuse - 17% (10%)

* Mid-life crisis - 13% (not in 2003 survey)

* Addictions, e.g. alcoholism and gambling - 6% (5%)

* Workaholism - 6% (5%)

According to this survey, men engaged in extra-marital affairs in 75% (55%) of cases; women in 25% (45%). In cases of family strain, women's families were the primary source of strain in 78%, compared to 22% of men's families.

Emotional and physical abuse were more evenly split, with women affected in 60% and men in 40% of cases. In 70% of workaholism-related divorces it was men who were the cause, and 30% women.

The 2004 survey found that 93% of divorce cases were petitioned by women, very few of which were contested.

53% of divorces were of marriages that had lasted 10 to 15 years, with 40% ending after 5 to 10 years. The first 5 years are relatively divorce-free, and if a marriage survives more than 20 years it is unlikely to end in divorce.