‘Was it all smoke and mirrors?’: How adult children are affected by grey divorce

The US has one of the highest divorce rates in the world, even though over the past four decades, it has fallen among younger couples. Instead, middle-aged and older adults have taken over. In fact, adults aged 65 and older are now the only age group in the US with a growing divorce rate. For the over-50s, the rate also rose for decades, but has now stabilised. Today, roughly 36% of people getting divorced are 50 and older, compared to only 8.7% in 1990. This is known as a “grey divorce“.