Latter-day Saint Marriage & Divorce Statistics
46 Primary Sources
Date | Summary | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 7, 1976 | President Spencer W. Kimball recommends marrying same racial, educational, socioeconomic, and religious background; claims 10% of temple marriages end in divorce. | Spencer W. Kimball LDS | Direct | |
Jun 17, 1978 | Kimball discourages interracial marriage, but states that there is "no condemnation" of it. | Spencer W. Kimball LDS | Direct Journalism | |
Jun 1985 | Heaton and Goodman's Church study that is the source of the popular 6% divorce statistic for temple marriages. | N/A LDS | Secondary | |
Nov 1988 | Ezra Taft Benson cautions single women to avoid romantic relationships with men that "cannot take you worthily to the temple." | Ezra Taft Benson LDS | Direct | |
1992 | Tim B. Heaton reports LDS divorce rates as derived from surveys. | Tim Heaton LDS | Secondary | |
1993 | Study by non-LDS demographer shows low LDS divorce rates. | Evelyn L. Lehrer Non-LDS | Secondary | |
1998 | Heaton summarizes various LDS marriage statistics. | N/A LDS | Secondary | |
Feb 1999 | Gordon B. Hinckley writes in the Ensign that "there is no substitute for marrying in the temple." | Gordon B. Hinckley LDS | Direct | |
Apr 8, 2000 | LA Times article that the Church cites on their website; cites the 6% temple divorce rate number. | Los Angeles Times Non-LDS | Secondary Journalism | |
2002 | Heaton provides a summary of various Latter-day Saint statistics; estimates that temple sealings have a divorce rate of 25-30%. | Tim Heaton LDS | Secondary | |
2003 | Student manual for the eternal marriage class summarizes teachings on the issue. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS | Direct Reprint | |
2003 | Church manual quotes Spencer W. Kimball on interracial marriage. | Spencer W. Kimball LDS | Direct Reprint | |
2004 | Study finds that LDS and conservative Protestants are more likely to marry early; LDS less likely to cohabitate. | Population Research and Policy Review Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2004 | Study using the National Survey of Households and Families—Latter-day Saints and conservative Protestants get married the youngest. | Population Research and Policy Review Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2005 | Tim Heaton, Stephen Bahr, and Cardell Jacobson provide summary of LDS divorce rates from different sources. | Tim Heaton LDS | Secondary | |
2005 | Article that uses the National Survey of Families and Households data (1st wave in the late 1980s) to show that Latter-day Saints are married much sooner. | Journal of Family Issues Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Jun 2006 | Dallin H. Oaks encourages youth to date and gives advice. | Dallin H. Oaks LDS | Scribed Verbatim Reprint | |
Mar 31, 2007 | Deseret News article that cites a BYU Professor's number that the average age of first marriage is 23, and juxtaposes that with the national average of 25-27. | Deseret News LDS | Journalism | |
2008 | Arthur C. Brooks finds that religious people are, on average, happier than secularists. | Arthur C. Brooks Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Sep 12, 2008 | Keller does a deep dive on the popular 6% figure that is often cited as the temple divorce rate. | David Keller LDS | Direct | |
Mar 2009 | Report summarizes findings of large religion survey and finds that Latter-day Saints have low divorce rates. | N/A Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2010 | Study showing that returned missionaries have low divorce rates. | Bruce A. Chadwick, Brent L. Top, and Richard J. McClendon LDS | Secondary | |
2010 | Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell show that Mormons are less likely to marry outside of the faith. | Robert D. Putnam Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2012 | Rodney Stark provides data showing religious couples are more likely to marry, stay married, and have happier marriages than irreligious couples. | Rodney Stark Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Feb 16, 2012 | Results from Gallup well-being poll that shows that Mormons score high. | Gallup Non-LDS | Direct Secondary | |
2013 | Naomi Schaefer Riley finds that interfaith marriages are "more unhappy," "more unstable," with "high divorce rates." | Naomi Schaefer Riley Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2013 | Naomi Schaefer Riley reports that fewer Mormons (12%) are in interfaith marriages compared to other religions. | Naomi Schaefer Riley Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2013 | Naomi Schaefer Riley reviews data on interfaith divorce and marital satisfaction, including Mormons. | Naomi Schaefer Riley Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Dec 1, 2013 | In the Gospel Topics Essay, the Church "disavows...that mixed-race marriages are a sin." | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS | Direct | |
Jun 1, 2014 | Jeremy Uecker finds that Latter-day Saints marry much younger. | Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion LDS | Secondary | |
2015 | Tim Heaton and Cardell Jacobson summarize the results of Pew survey on LDS marriage/divorce. | Tim Heaton LDS | Secondary | |
2015 | Heaton & Jacobson analyze 2007 Pew data and cross-year General Social Survey data showing LDS divorce rates, also reporting cross-national data that shows higher divorce rates internationally. | Tim Heaton LDS | Direct Secondary | |
2015 | Shows how Church members do on surveys of well-being. | Chaeyoon Lim Non-LDS | Direct Scribed Paraphrase Secondary | |
2015 | Study that shows that Latter-day Saints in New Zealand report higher happiness. | World Development Non-LDS | Direct Secondary | |
May 24, 2017 | Riess conveys finding from the Next Mormons Survey that indicates that median age for marriage among Mormons is 22. | Jana Riess LDS | Journalism | |
2018 | Informal literature review of older LDS and mental health studies, finds that LDS are healthier. | Daniel K. Judd LDS | Direct Secondary | |
2018 | Study finds that U.S. "nurses who attended religious service more than once per week had a 50% lower likelihood of subsequent divorce or separation." | Shanshan Li Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Dec 2020 | Study finds that religious service attendance improves psychological well-being. | Ying Chen Non-LDS | Secondary | |
2021 | Church Gospel Topics essay cites LA Times article that cites the 6% number. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS | Direct | |
2021 | Article on church Website states how Bishops are to promote marriage among singles. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS | Direct | |
2021 | FSY pamphlet provides the Church's standards around dating. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints LDS | Direct | |
Oct 19, 2021 | Cranney analyzes Pew's 2014 data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS less likely to get divorced than non-LDS. | N/A LDS | Secondary | |
Oct 23, 2021 | Cranney analyzes the GSS data on Latter-day Saint divorce; LDS get divorced less than non-LDS. | Stephen Cranney LDS | Direct | |
Nov 16, 2021 | Blog post from Stephen Cranney that analyzes GSS data to show that members report higher marital happiness. | Stephen Cranney LDS | Direct | |
Dec 2021 | Research brief finds that women with religious upbringing are less likely to cohabitate and divorce than those with irreligious upbringing; non-Christian religions (Mormons) even less likely. | Institute for Family Studies Non-LDS | Secondary | |
Jan 31, 2022 | Gallup finds that Americans who attend religious services weekly have far higher life satisfaction than those who do not. | Megan Brenan Non-LDS | Secondary |