A Census Bureau report showing highest divorce rates by state revealed Thursday that rates are highest in the U.S. South and lowest in the Northeast.
The divorce rate for men was 10.2 per 1,000 in the South, 7.2 in the Northeast and 9.2 nationally, the bureau said in a report, "Marital Events of Americans, 2009." For women, the rates were 11.1 in the South, 7.5 in the Northeast and 9.7 per 1,000 nationally.
"Divorce rates tend to be higher in the South because marriage rates are also higher in the South," said Diana Elliott, a family demographer at the Census Bureau. "In contrast, in the Northeast, first marriages tend to be delayed and the marriage rates are lower, meaning there are also fewer divorces."
Demographers also found that in 75 percent of divorces children live with the mother while only 25 percent live with the father, UPI.com reported.
Women are more likely to suffer economically from divorce, with 22 percent reporting incomes below the poverty line in the first year after divorce compared with 11 percent of men.
Another study reported that men tend to have a large weight gain after a divorce, but for women, the risk of a large weight gain was most likely after marriage.
