Religion, race and divorce rates

David Leonhardt:

During the first five years of marriage, the divorce rate for a couple of the same religion hovers around 24 percent, no matter what that religion is. But it jumps to 38 percent for a marriage between a mainline Protestant and a Catholic and 42 percent for one between a Jew and a Christian, according to Evelyn L. Lehrer, an economist at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Divorce rates are also somewhat higher for interracial couples and for couples with a wife who is at least four years older than her husband. (When the man is a lot older, on the other hand, divorce is no more likely than when spouses are about the same age.)

Religion as a Determinant of Economic and Demographic Behavior in the United States