The world has changed a great deal in the past 50 years, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the legal system and how it has begun looking at and dealing with divorce. Although individuals no longer marry in their early 20s, the divorce rates are still at nearly 50 percent, although they do appear to be dropping. Researchers believe that nearly half of all children living in the United States are products of divorced parents, and some question if those children believe they must then get divorced as well. The fact is, divorce is tough to study, more difficult to understand, and challenging to experience. Here are new surprising divorce statistics that make understanding divorce even more confusing.
Custody
Although many individuals have their divorce attorney Altamonte Springs FL fight for legal and physical custody of children for them, reports show that almost 90 percent of divorced mothers will end up with custody of their children by the time the child is 16 years old. This is true even if the mother did not receive physical custody from the court at the time of the divorce.
Support
More than 13.6 million custodial parents are owed more than $33.7 billion in child support each year, and almost half never receive any of the money due them for their children. Child support is paid to help with food, clothing, shelter, education costs, and medical bills for the dependent children, and even though most spouses are supposed to pay less than $500 a month, almost half never pay a penny.
Government
Although most custodial parents never receive the money due to them for child support, less than 25 percent will ask for government assistance in collecting any past due cash. The reason may be that more than 60 percent report that they receive aid of some form, and some allow the other parent to pay off the owed monies by babysitting their own children!
You must admit that the above statistics are surprising. How much will the numbers change in the next 50 years?