Armando and Julie Everett (not their real names) are in their early fifties, live in Los Angeles, work in the entertainment industry and were married for 26 years. Their two children are now grown and live on their own. Their marriage had its ebbs and flows and uncertainties, but they stuck together, partly for the sake of the kids. Once their two adult children moved out, their marriage started to dissolve and the Everetts split up. They divorced in 2016.
Call it the 20-year itch. After the children move out, some couples who have been together for decades face a conundrum: stay together and work things out or split. Despite the many years together, some opt for divorce. Why? Why after 20 or 25 years married, does the relationship dissolve?
According to the Pew Research Center, among adults 50 and older in the United States, the rate of divorce has approximately doubled since the 1990s and for those 65 and older, it’s roughly tripled in the same period of time.
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