Marriages Last Longer: Average Duration of Married Life Rises by 2 Years

The latest data from the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly show that the gap between the average age of marriage and the average age of divorce in the country has widened from 1392 to 1404 (Solar Hijri calendar), meaning Iranian couples stay together for longer periods on average.

The latest data from the Islamic Council Research Center shows that the gap between the average age of marriage and the average age of divorce in the country has increased from 1392 to 1404; That is, Iranian couples stay together for longer years on average.

Ambassador Arjan - Mohammad Sarabi: According to this report, although both the average age of marriage and the average age of divorce have increased, the speed of the increase in the age of divorce has exceeded the age of marriage and has overtaken it. The same distance between marriage and divorce shows the longer life of cohabitation.

A part of the research center's report shows that the raw rate of divorce statistics has increased, which is cause for concern, but by examining the statistics that show the average age of marriage, divorce and birth of a child, we get more data. In 2012, boys married on average at the age of 27 and divorced at the age of 34; So they stayed together for 7 years. In 1404, boys were married at the age of 28 and divorced at the age of 39; So they stayed together for 11 years. The same statistics can be obtained about girls. In 2012, the average age of marriage for girls was 23, and the average age of divorced women was 30. It means that they lived together for 7 years. In 1404, girls were married at the age of 24, and 34 was the average age of divorce. That means they lived together for 10 years. The statistical result of this problem shows that the distance between marriage and divorce has increased by 4 years for boys and 3 years for girls during the last 12 years. If we consider the average value of this number, the duration of families has increased by 2 and a half years during this period.

Another part of the parliament report shows the number of registered divorce cases. It can be seen here that the number of divorces has not increased at all and has been accompanied by ups and downs. The number of divorces in 1404 is about 10,000 more than in 1392, but during this period, the number of divorces has increased and then decreased several times. The rate of divorce decreased once in 2016 and continued to decrease until 2 years later. The second period of divorce reduction occurred after 1402. During this period, the number of divorces reached 206 thousand, which decreased after that, and in 1404, it decreased by 22 thousand to 184 thousand. Although it must be said that the ratio between divorce and marriage in our country is a cause for concern, and every possible measure and effective planning should be done to reduce the divorce rate, but the correct interpretation is that the divorce rate did not proceed as an explosive upward trend and there were changes every year.

Since there is no separate statistics of "divorced children", we must use the combination of available figures. Unfortunately, the examination of the age of marriage, divorce and the average age of the parents at the time of the birth of the baby shows that the children were born right in the middle of their life together. Both in the statistics of 1392 and in the statistics of 1404, the average age of having a child is exactly in the middle of the interval between marriage and divorce and is not closer to either. Perhaps the statistics can be interpreted in such a way that children were neither the motivation for marriage nor the reason for divorce, but in the first years of their lives and when they were less than 5 years old, they were victims of their parents' separation. The report of the Majlis Research Center states that global studies show that 20 to 25 percent of children of divorce are injured, but no statistics from the Iranian society have been provided to verify the accuracy of this data.

At the beginning of November last year, statistics on marriages and divorces in Iran were published, which brought many misinterpretations. According to the Statistics of Civil Registration Organization, in the first half of 1404, the ratio of divorce to marriage was 38% in the whole country and 52% in Tehran. The publication of these statistics officially created the misconception that in the first half of 1404, 52% of marriages in the capital resulted in divorce. A few days after the publication of these statistics, some experts said that the preliminary results obtained from the statistics should not be interpreted in relation to each other. In other words, marriages registered in the first 6 months of the year are related to bonds formed in the same year; While registered divorces are due to marriages that took place in previous years. In the general form, the statistics related to marriage and divorce events should be examined carefully and carefully, because these events have details that are not mentioned in the general statistics.