Women who get married for the first time while they’re very young or over 45 are more likely to see their union end in a divorce than others, statistics show.
There are higher divorce rates among women who were between 15 and 20 years old when they first tied the knot, according to Bureau of Labor figures and data from the American Community Survey, analyzed by University of Maryland sociologist Philip N. Cohen. On average, those marriages—known in the vernacular as “starter marriages”—last between 1 and 10 years.
Another study in 2015 suggests that the best ages for people to enter a long and successful marriage is between 28 and 32.
Read More: What Your Brain Looks Like After 20 Years of Marriage
TIME delved into marriage in a cover story on how the institution has changed, including the latest research on how to boost your chances of staying married—and why. This chart shows who tends to stay married longest:
More Must-Reads From TIME
- What Student Photojournalists Saw at the Campus Protests
- How Far Trump Would Go
- Why Maternity Care Is Underpaid
- Saving Seconds Is Better Than Hours
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Ryan Gosling
- Scientists Are Finding Out Just How Toxic Your Stuff Is
- The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Contact us at letters@time.com