The Registrar General’s Department is not a repository for documents utilised in granting divorces absolute. This data is sourced from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) which collates divorce data from the records of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the entity which actually processes divorces absolute.
In 2004 a total of 1,739 divorces absolute were granted. This is an increase of 139 or 8.7% over the previous year’s total of 1,600. In 2003, divorces absolute had declined by 145 or 8.3% from 2002’s total of 1,745.
TABLE 1g: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE GRANTED-1998-2004
From 1998 to 2004, the total number of divorces absolute has fluctuated. Overall, however, there is a trend of increase as shown in the graph. In 1998, the total stood at 1,420 then there was a decline in the following year to 1,131. In 2000, there was another minimal decrease to 1,106 and then in 2001, divorces absolute granted rose sharply to 1,691, an increase of almost 53%. In 2002, the total granted was 1,745, the highest recorded to date for any one year. The year 2003 registered a slight decline to 1,600 and then another increase occurred in 2004, with the total reaching 1,739.
GRAPH 10: CRUDE DIVORCE RATE FOR DIVORCE ABSOLUTE GRANTED -1998 TO 2004
Age of Partner Being Sued at Divorce
For divorces absolute granted by age and sex, note that the data is given in respect of the partner against whom the divorce action is being taken. In 2004, this described 901 males and 838 females, which is 51.8% and 48.2% respectively. In the previous year, there were 803 males and 797 females or 50.2% and 49.8% males and females respectively. Additionally, the 40-49 and 30-39 age groups were the largest for males and females being divorced with 328 and 316 respectively.
TABLE 21: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE CLASSIFIED BY AGE AND BY SEX FOR 2004
Joint Ages of Partners at Divorce
The next table deals with divorces absolute by joint ages of partners at divorce. This table shows that the largest age group for female partner was the 35-39 group with 340. For age of male partner, the largest age group was the 50-59 group with 342. In respect of the joint ages, the largest cohort was that for both the male and female partners being 50-59 with 148 such couples.
TABLE 22: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE CLASSIFIED BY JOINT AGES OF PARTNERS AT DIVORCE FOR 2004
Age at Marriage and Duration of Marriage
When age of female partner at marriage and duration of marriage are taken into account, it is seen that the largest number came from the under 25 age group with 753 of the females being from that group. For the remaining age groups in ascending order: 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-49 and 50 and over, the magnitude of the totals decreased accordingly with 479, 267, 118, 93 and 29 respectively.
TABLE 23: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE CLASSIFIED BY AGE OF FEMALE PARTNER AT MARRIAGE AND DURATION OF MARRIAGE FOR 2004
In contrast, for the age of male partner and duration of marriage table, the largest group was the 25-29 age group with 598 in total. The following groups were the under 25, 30-34, 35-39, 40-49 and 50 and over with 393, 347, 189, 155 and 57 respectively.
TABLE 24: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE CLASSIFIED BY AGE OF MALE PARTNER AT MARRIAGE AND DURATION OF MARRIAGE FOR 2004
From both Tables 23 and 24, it can be seen that the modal group for duration of marriage was for 5-9 years with 537 divorces absolute being granted for this group. Following in descending order were 10-14, 15-19, 25 and over, 20-24 and under 5 years with 398, 263, 230, 192 and 119 respectively.
Mean Duration of Marriage Before Divorce – 1995 to 2004As seen in the accompanying graph, the mean duration of marriage before divorce absolute was granted for 1995 to 2004 fluctuated over the ten-year period. In 1995, the average length of the marriages which were dissolved was 14.5 years. In 1996 and 1997 there were increases to 14.7 and 15.0 years respectively. There was then a slight decrease in 1998 to 14.9 years and then a more drastic decrease in 1999 to 14.5 years. It rose minimally in the following year to 14.6 years. In 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, it followed a declining trend to 14.5, 14.3, 14.0 and 13.6 years respectively. The year with the lowest mean duration of marriages was 2004 with 13.6 years and the year with the highest was 1997 with 15.0 years.
GRAPH 11: MEAN DURATION OF MARRIAGE BEFORE DIVORCE ABSOLUTE GRANTED FOR 1995 TO 2004
Previous Marital Status
In respect of previous marital status, for males being divorced in 2004, there were 1,612 (92.7%) single, 21 (1.2%) widowed and 106 (6.1%) were divorced. For females, there were 1,636 (94.1%) single, 15 (0.9%) widowed and 88 (5.0%) divorced.
TABLE 25: DIVORCES ABSOLUTE CLASSIFIED BY PREVIOUS MARITAL STATUS AND AGE AT MARRIAGE FOR 2004