Older Divorcees

Statistics from a People's Court in Beijing's Haidian District indicate that divorces for couples under the age of 30 dropped from 37 percent in 1980 to 13 percent in 2001 and 6.6 percent in 2003. Divorce cases among people over 40 increased from 26 percent in 1980 to 40 percent in 2001 and 48 percent in 2003.

The report concludes that more young people are getting married after a long courtship and so are less likely to divorce, and that older couples are more aware of loveless marriage's ill effects on children.