Each year I ask for divorce and marriage statistics from our local circuit court, numbers I have been graciously provided since 1996. I find it noteworthy that while our Rockingham/Harrisonburg population has grown by over 50% since then, the number of annual divorces has remained fairly steady, 400 in 2024. Last year did see the most ever marriage licenses issued, 1025, though that number is only slightly higher than the previous record set over two decades ago, which was 1003.
Of those experiencing marital breakups last year, 141 were contested cases and the rest were no fault divorces. While 400 is well within our average range, it nevertheless means the distressing disruption of the lives of 800 individual partners, to say nothing of the potential trauma created for their children (if any) and countless numbers of friends, parents, grandparents and other loved ones.
Meanwhile, while we have good records of documented marriages in our community, we lack statistics on the increased number of partners living together without registering their de facto (common law) marriages, though many do not realize that Virginia gives no legal status to such couples. Nor do we have any record of how many of these undocumented couples are experiencing undocumented breakups, with equally stressful effects on children and other close family members and friends.
Here are the numbers of registered marriages and divorces over the past 28 years:
Year Marriages Divorces
1996 873 387
1997 950 405
1998 964 396
1999 932 405
2000 947 365
2001 1003 438
2002 976 421
2003 961 399
2004 959 437
2005 889 381
2006 929 389
2007 925 434
2008 950 405
2009 903 347
2010 879 358 (fewest annual marriages)
2011 933 433
2012 995 445
2013 924 484
2014 972 427
2015 955 474
2016 985 612 (most annual divorces)
2017 983 426
2018 935 476
2019 947 487
2020 882 445
2021 994 466
2022 954 332 (fewest annual divorces)
2023 961 366
2024 1025 400 (most annual marriages)
It should be noted that the marriage numbers above are based solely on the number of licenses issued, and include those who come here from other localities to get married, whereas divorce numbers include only the official breakups of people who live here in the City or County. However, it is reasonable to assume that a roughly equal number of residents from here marry in other jurisdictions as marry here from other communities, so the numbers should be reasonably valid for comparison purposes.
It should also be noted that we cannot assume a rate of divorce based on any one year's numbers, as in "40% of first time marriages in our community will end in divorce,” since, for example, many of the above couples are marrying or divorcing for a second, third or fourth time, and future divorce rates could increase or decrease for a variety of reasons. But with numbers like these over a period of decades, we can safely conclude that the odds of a given first marriage surviving are well above 50%.
Separations and divorces may certainly be justified in cases of ongoing patterns of verbal or physical abuse, addictions or adultery. But we would all do well to do whatever we can to support stable and healthy marriages and seeing fewer severed relationships and broken families. At the very least I'm sure most of us would agree with what I once saw on a bumper sticker, "Children Want Happily Married Parents."
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