3/86Average percentage change in a woman’s standard of living in the year after a divorce: -73

The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America, by Lenore J. Weitzman (The Free Press)

    Average percentage change in a man’s standard of living: +43

The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America, by Lenore J. Weitzman (The Free Press)

6/87Public revenues generated by marriage license fees in New York City in 1985: $806,090

Harper’s research

    By divorce fees: $3,637,095

Harper’s research

2/89Estimated chances that a couple married this year will get divorced: 2 in 3

Larry Bumpass, University of Wisconsin (Madison)

8/89Ratio of the number of divorces filed by women to the number filed by men: 2:1

National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)

2/90Average number of days a divorced middle-aged American woman spends sick in bed each year: 14

National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)

    Average number of days a married middle-aged woman spends sick in bed each year: 7

National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)

10/92Rank of divorce, among the most common reasons people give for going on welfare: 1

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee

4/93Ratio of the divorce rate in cities with a major-league baseball franchise to the rate in cities that are applying for one: 3:4

Howard Markham, University of Denver

6/94Rank of Arkansas among states with the highest divorce rate in 1992: 1

National Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, Md.)

4/95Number of the 29 divorced members of the House of Representatives who are Democrats: 21

Congressional Quarterly (Washington)/Harper’s research

5/95Membership of the British Old Bags Club, a group of middle-aged divorcees: 450

Sally Moon (London)

6/95Portion of all divorces that occur after more than three years of marriage: 3/4

U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)

4/96Percentage of American children of divorced parents who have not seen their father in the last year: 40

Frank Furstenberg, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

8/02Number of northern Nigerian states in which being divorced and pregnant is enough evidence for an adultery conviction: 12

Amnesty International (London)

7/03Number of years Neil Bush was married before asking his wife for a divorce via email last summer: 22

Elite Model Management (N.Y.C.)/Harper’s research

3/05Amount that the U.S. wedding industry would gain each year if gays wed at the same rate as straights: $17,000,000,000

Forbes (N.Y.C.)

    Amount that U.S. divorce attorneys would gain if gays also divorced at the same rate: $1,900,000,000

David Schramm, Auburn University (Auburn, Ala.)/Harper’s research

4/05Percentage of born-again U.S. Christians who have been divorced: 35

The Barna Group, Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)

    Percentage of other Americans who have been: 35

The Barna Group, Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)

4/05Chances that the divorce of a born-again Christian happened after he or she accepted Christ: 9 in 10

The Barna Group, Ltd. (Ventura, Calif.)

4/07Maximum body-mass index that China now allows for any foreigner adopting a Chinese infant: 39

China Center of Adoption Affairs (Beijing)

    Maximum number of divorces that prospective parents can have between them: 2

China Center of Adoption Affairs (Beijing)

5/07Percentage of Americans in February who said they would be unlikely to vote for a candidate who has been divorced twice: 26

ABC News (N.Y.C.)

    Percentage who said they would be unlikely to vote for a 72-year-old: 58

ABC News (N.Y.C.)

    Percentage who said they would be unlikely to vote for an African American or a smoker, respectively: 6, 21

ABC News (N.Y.C.)