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Contrary to previous generation staying married until the end, boomers divorce easily nowadays. Of the 52,400 divorces granted in Australia during 2005, not quite one-third involved a joint application. 57% of the initiated single applications were female. But after 50, males wake up and prefer living alone rather than in an unhappy marriage.
The previous generation was prepared to stay in a marriage until parted by death, but boomers are more likely to go solo into old age. When couples file for divorce they have the option of applying singly or jointly. Of the 52,400 divorces granted in Australia during 2005, not quite one-third involved a joint application.
Many couples happily, or at least co-operatively, decide to jointly call it quits. Generally, where only one member of a couple initiates the application for divorce it's the female who is the prime mover. Although not by the margin you might expect. 57 per cent of single-applications for divorce are filed by women. The bottom line is that women are more likely to file for divorce in the early years of marriage (when they are young and beautiful) whereas men are more likely to file for divorce much later in life (when they may be paunchy but they are at the peak of their financial and/or career power).
The numbers for 2005 are instructive. Women's dissatisfaction with their marriage peaks in the third and fourth year, when they comprise 63 per cent of single applications for divorce.
Ladies, beware: that balding paunchy baby boomer husband sleeping and snoring on the couch could well be plotting a perky partner trade-in. Beyond the age of 50 baby boomer men finally drag their sorry fat backsides off the couch and into action. In fact, after 30 years of marriage 55 per cent of single applications for divorce are filed by men. Men of this age are 5 per cent more pissed off with their relationship than women.
The fact is that long-term baby boomer marriages are much more likely to end in divorce than were long-term marriages in preceding generations. This is not to say that baby-boomer marriages are more successful; it's just that boomer men are more likely to do something about it.
This in turn suggests a generational shift in values: whereas the depression generation was prepared to slog it out in marriage until parted by death, the boomer generation is more likely to go solo into old age than to suffer the pain of an unhappy relationship.
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