The Boston metro-west part of Middlesex County, and all of Norfolk County, and the suburban neighborhoods of Boston, and the northern cities and towns of Plymouth County form the Metro-south and Metro-west suburban regions of Boston.

These cities, towns and neighborhoods contain about 1.7 million people. The so-called “crude” divorce rate, which looks at the number of divorces per year measured against the total Massachusetts population, is 2.5 per thousand people according to the US government.  In other words, one measuring stick says that there are about 4,250 divorces per year in the Metro-south and Metro-west suburbs.

But consider how many people are married in the same two regions. About 79% of the 1.7 million people in the two regions are adults, and about 51% of all adults are married. So there are about 340,000 married couples in the two suburban regions. Additionally, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York ranked among the lowest in divorces.

Additionally, couples are now cohabitating and not getting formally married.
A Report published about ten years ago found that unmarried cohabitations overall are less stable than marriages.  The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent, but the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49 percent. After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent, compared with 62 percent for cohabitations.

And what about remarriage? You might be thinking, “No way”, but the same study  says that the probability of remarriage among divorced women was 54 percent in 5 years–58 percent for white women, 44 percent for Hispanic women, and 32 percent for black women.  However, there was also a strong probability that 2nd marriages will end in separation or divorce (23 percent after 5 years and 39 percent after 10 years).  And most interesting, the likelihood of remarriage for women has been declining since the 1970s.

If you are considering divorce in the Boston Metrosouth or Metrowest region, please contact Attorney Bruce Watson to learn your options.