The finding that the parental divorce rate reported among the NESARC sample was considerably lower than the contemporary U.S. national divorce rate may appear counterintuitive at first glance. However, this difference may be understood in light of two considerations. First, the current national divorce rate (ratio of annual divorces to marriages) is based upon all divorces and marriages in a given year, including those with and without offspring. Marriages without offspring are probably more likely to end in divorce. By definition, all parents of NESARC respondents had offspring (including the respondents) and so their divorce rate should be lower than a rate that includes couples divorcing without offspring. Second, the age range of NESARC participants spans over seven decades. Thus, the sample included many older respondents whose parents lived during periods when the U.S. divorce rate was much lower than it is now. Both of these factors would give rise to an overall divorce rate lower than the current rate of divorce in the U.S.
