Divorce has become a commodity in New Jersey, according to many. There is even a magazine called "Divorce," with a New York-New Jersey edition filled with ads from area Lawyerss, many of whom charge a minimum of $350 an hour for their services.
Low-income people without a high school diploma are the most likely to divorce.
In New Jersey, more African-Americans, blacks and Hispanics from the Caribbean islands are divorced than any other ethnic group.
Among African-Americans, for instance, Census data shows one divorced person for every four married people in New Jersey.
In New Jersey, those with roots in Mexico, Korea and China are far less likely to split: Among Mexican-Americans, there are 19 married people for every divorced person.
Those who divorce the least in New Jersey are Asian Indians, whose culture favors arranged marriages. This group counts 44 married people for every divorced person.
Although New Jersey's divorce rate (3.4 per 1,000 married couples) is the 16th lowest in the country, tied with North Carolina, that nevertheless translates into a significant number of divorces – nearly 30,000 last year.
New Jersey's divorce rate has inched back up to where it was in the late 1980s, while the marriage rate is going down - in part because many couples live together without a marriage certificate. In one quarter of the marriages that took place here last year, either the bride or the groom had been married before.
