Military and Veteran Divorce Rates: What the Data Shows

The evidence does not support the claim that military marriages fail more often than civilian ones. The best US comparison, a peer-reviewed study of male service members, found they were more likely to be married than matched civilians and no more likely to be divorced. Reported active-duty divorce rates run at about 3 percent a year in the US. No comparable UK armed forces divorce rate was found, but the 2021 Census shows how veterans' legal partnership status compares with other adults.

US figures

Active-duty divorce rates (Department of Defense data, 2019)

Military.com reported Pentagon data in September 2020 showing an annual divorce rate of between 3 and 3.1 percent each year since 2014, including 2019. The rate measures service members divorced during a fiscal year against the number married when that year began, and excludes the Coast Guard.

Military.com cautions that this rate cannot be compared directly with the CDC's civilian figure, which is measured per 1,000 residents and excludes five states, including California. The Department of Defense publishes divorce trends in its annual Profile of the Military Community. The 2023 edition (fiscal year 2023) reports that 48.8 percent of active-duty members are married, with 561,008 active-duty spouses, and that 34.8 percent of the force has children.

Military and civilian marriages compared

Karney, Loughran and Pollard published the most cited comparison in the Journal of Family Issues in 2012. They compared personnel records for the entire male population of the US military's active components from 1998 to 2005 with Current Population Survey data, matching civilians on age, race and ethnicity, employment and education. Service members were significantly more likely to be married and no more likely to be divorced than their matched civilian counterparts. The authors report that these patterns have not changed substantially since the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts began. The sample is male-only and ends in 2005, so it says little about women, reservists or recent years.

UK figures

Veterans in the 2021 Census (England and Wales)

The Office for National Statistics reported the legal partnership status of veterans aged 16 and over in its Census 2021 analysis, published on 3 February 2023.

Veterans are less likely to be single than non-veterans (14.6 percent against 38.8 percent). After the ONS adjusted the non-veteran figures for age, sex and region, veterans were still less likely to be single (14.6 percent against 18.5 percent), and the differences in the married and widowed shares disappeared. The Census is a snapshot of status on one day, so it cannot show how many marriages ended or why.

The general divorce rate

ONS released Divorces in England and Wales for 2024 and 2025 on 23 September 2026. In 2025 there were 105,002 divorces, at a rate of 8.4 per 1,000 married people for opposite-sex marriages, similar to 2023 and 2024. ONS notes that the 2020 Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act and COVID-19 court disruption have affected the timing of divorces. No ONS or Ministry of Defence release that I could find gives a divorce rate for the armed forces, so treat any quoted UK military divorce rate with caution unless it names an official source.

US and UK side by side

What predicts relationship strain

The UK cohort studies are more informative about risk than about rates. The 2015 study Relationship Difficulties Among UK Military Personnel (7,581 participants) found that most people reported no difficulties. It linked difficulties to childhood adversity, limited support for and from partners, unmarried relationships, financial problems and deploying for more than 13 months in 3 years. A 2025 study of 219 UK military couples found about four in ten had at least one partner meeting the threshold for relationship distress, with lower satisfaction where the partner reported more PTSD symptoms and where the service member held a lower rank (summary). A study of 3,845 personnel and veterans found that most reported stable satisfaction over about seven years, and that new mental health problems and children under 18 were linked to a decline.

Where to get help

• Relationship counselling (UK): the RAF Benevolent Fund offers up to six free sessions with Relate to RAF personnel, Reservists, veterans and partners, including separated and divorced people (0300 102 1919). The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity runs a similar service for serving and former personnel and partners.
• Separation and divorce guidance (UK): the Ministry of Defence publishes a separation and divorce guide for military personnel, spouses and partners, first published on 23 March 2023 and currently under review.
• Welfare and abuse outreach (UK): SSAFA offers domestic abuse outreach and supported housing for women and children. Forcesline is 0800 260 6780.
• Counselling (US): VA Vet Centers provide marriage and family counselling (1-877-927-8387), and Military OneSource provides counselling for couples and families (800-342-9647).

The article on reconnecting with family compares these services in more detail, and the deployment article covers what the RAND study found on marital satisfaction.