Divorce in Asia Revisited: Changing Dynamics in Contemporary Marriages

Premchand Dommaraju, Nanyang Technological University
Shu Hu, Singapore University of Social Sciences

In recent decades, Asia has experienced significant shifts in marriage dynamics, from spousal selection to marital stability. While much is known about these changes, comparative research on divorce remains limited. This study offers a comparative analysis of divorce patterns across 15 Asian countries, examining the demographic and educational dimensions of marital stability across two time periods—recent years and roughly a quarter century ago. Using survey data from DHS, MICS, and other sources, we estimate the proportion of marriages ending in divorce. We employ an innovative interval-censored technique to estimate divorce, providing comparative and interpretable measures of divorce. Our findings reveal significant variation in divorce levels, ranging from less than 5% in South Asia to over 25% in Thailand by the 15th year of marriage. In many South and Southeast Asian countries, divorce tends to occur early in marriage, while in East Asia, divorces typically happen later. In countries like Japan, a higher proportion of divorces occur among less-educated women. The results will offer a detailed understanding of how divorce levels vary across countries and educational groups. The findings will be contextualised within the complex social and gender dynamics of diverse Asian societies.

Keywords: Families, Unions and Households

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