PolitiFact: Sweeney’s numbers on divorce rates are wrong
How many marriages will end in divorce?
The answer is different depending on where you get your numbers, but it’s not 67 percent.
That’s the guesstimate N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney tossed out during an appearance on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show.” He was discussing gay marriage in the Garden State, and a caller asked what would happen to children of gay parents who divorce.
Sweeney said it would work the same as it does with children of divorced straight parents, and then went on to say the divorce rate is about 67 percent.
Not so, according to PolitiFact. A check of the numbers (and there are many) shows the divorce rate is much closer to 40 percent to 50 percent. High, yes, but not the clear majority outcome of marriage.
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