Longer Life Spans Factor Into Higher Divorce Rates
Divorce rates for the general population throughout the United States have stabilized over the past several decades. However, that’s not true for baby boomers. Divorce rates among couples over 50 have doubled over the last two decades according to a recent study by Bowling Green State University Professor Susan L. Brown. In the 1990s, fewer than 1 in 10 people who divorced were 50 or older. In 2009, that figure soared to 1 in 4. Dr. Brown utilized data from the federal government’s 2009 American Community Survey. She also looked at demographics and found the highest rates were among black couples and the lowest rates among white couples. Older adults who divorced also tended to be less educated than those who remained married.
Dr. Brown identified a number of factors that might help explain the increase in the divorce rates among baby boomers including longer life spans. In addition, she found that the divorce rates for those who were in their second or third marriage was 2-1/2 times higher than for those in their first marriage. Dr. Brown said, “Interestingly, these are baby boomers. They were the first generation to come of … Read More... “Divorce Rates Double for Boomers”
According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), a 
For those of you who follow our blog, you already know that local child psychologist Dr. Greg Ramey is a frequent contributor. Dr. Ramey is the vice president for outpatient services at Dayton Children’s and writes FamilyWise, a weekly 
This topic is an exceedingly broad one, but I will try to share my insights from my perspective as a practicing family law attorney for the past 34 years. The original idea to write this article was that of Connecticut psychotherapist, Donna Ferber. I thought it was a great idea of hers to tackle this subject; from both a therapist’s perspective and a lawyer’s perspective. Here is the link to Donna’s perceptive take about parenting with an uncooperative parent in her blog article, 
It was truly a memorable Christmas. In the past we have usually managed to get the “family” together in Dayton, Ohio. But this year I locked the door of my law office; and my wife and I flew to Dallas to be with our son, daughter-in-law and our first grandchild – Hannah. We were fortunate enough to have been able to travel from Dayton, Ohio, to Texas to be in the hospital when Hannah was born five (5) months or so ago, but we haven’t visited in person since.
Over the years Gregory Ramey, Ph.D., who is a local child psychologist and vice president for outpatient services at the Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, has allowed us to republish many of his “Family Wise” articles from the Dayton Daily News. He included an interesting question and answer in his column published in the Dayton Daily News on Sunday, August 28, 2011, that caught my attention. Here is the question and Dr. Ramey’s answer:
Once upon a time in Ohio the answer was “yes”. But not any longer. There is much misinformation on the internet about this subject. So, I thought that a review of the child custody laws over the years might be both helpful and interesting. There has been movement away over the years from allowing a child to choose in a divorce which parent to live with. These past “age of election” laws were seen as placing too much pressure on children.