The divorce data in this report is sourced from the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), who in turn sources their information from the Supreme Court. Consequently, the analysis of divorce data as provided is not afforded as in depth a treatment as for other vital data reported on in this publication. The commentary is, however, beneficial in that it takes the form of a concise but effectual review of the data.
In the current year under review, there were 1,600 divorces absolute granted by the Jamaican courts, all on the grounds of Irretrievability. This reflects a decline of 145 or 8.3% from the 1,745 granted in 2002. In the previous year, there had been a minimal increase of 54 or 3.2% comparing 2002 to the total of 1,691 granted in 2001.
TABLE 1 G: Divorces Absolute Granted - 1997 to 2003
Throughout the seven-year period, the total number of divorces absolute granted has fluctuated, however, the general trend has been an upward one as can be seen in the table above and accompanying graph. The total began in 1997 at 1,266, after which there was an increase of 154 or 12.2 to 1,420 in the following year. In 1999, there was a moderate decrease of 289 or 20.4% to 1,131. This was followed by a less significant decline of 25 or 2.2% to 1,106 in 2000. There was a sharp increase for 2001 and slight increase in 2002 of 585 (52.9%) and 54 (3.2%) to 1,691 and 1,745 respectively, the total for 2002 being the highest for the seven year period.
In respect of divorces absolute granted by age and sex of partner, it is observed that a total of 803 males and 797 females were granted divorces. This is a 50.2% to 49.8% ratio. It is also observable that the largest group of males being divorced was the 40-49 years age group with 282 or 35.1% of all males. The largest group of females was from the 30-39 years age group with 267 or 33.5% of all females.
The joint age of partners table reveals that the largest joint groups by each male partner age group category were for male and female partner both being 25-29, 30-34 and 35-39 years with 37, 75 and 111 respectively. Then for male being 40-44 and female being 35-39 with 105, male being 45-49 and female being 40-44 with 79, both male and female being 50-59 with 146 and both partners being 60 and over with 78. The largest group by any measure for all joint age groups was the male and female being 50-59 with 146.
TABLE 22: Divorces Absolute Classified by Joint Ages of Partners at Divorce for 2003
When age of female partner and duration of marriage are considered together, it can be seen where the highest number of divorces were granted to parties where the female partner was under 25 years old and the marriage lasted for 5-9 years with 164 such divorces. The second highest group was for under 25 year old female partners and marriages for 25 years and over with 149 of these.
In respect of age of male partner and duration of marriage, the largest group was for male partner being 25-29 and duration of marriage being 5-9 years with 144 such divorces. The second largest group was for the male partner being 25-29 years as well and duration of marriage being 10-14 years with 124.
For the 1,600 divorces absolute granted in 2003, there were 1,484 male partners and 1,516 female partners being single before the current marriage now being made dissolute. There were 17 males and 15 females previously being widowed and 99 males and 69 females previously divorced.
TABLE 25: Divorces Absolute Classified By Previous Marital Status and Age at Marriage For 2003