Mediate Michigan

The breakup of the 40-year marriage of former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper raises the intriguing question: What is the likelihood that a long-duration marriage will end in divorce?

On an annual basis, the probability is very small, according to Census Bureau statistics from the American Community Survey. In 2008, among couples married for four decades or more, half a percent or less had obtained a divorce in the previous 12 months. (Among couples married for 25 years or more, the share that divorced in the previous year rises to about 1 %.)

via At Long Last, Divorce – Pew Research Center.