COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The growing divorce rate in Branch County continues to remain higher than the statewide average. New data shows that divorces went from 158 in 2013 to 179 in 2014.
The data comes from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The state’s divorce rate rate last year was 6.0, less than Branch County’s 8.2 divorce rate for every 1,000 residents. The DHS report, however, indicates Michigan’s number of divorces in 2014 was the lowest in 45 years.
One reason for the fewer divorces is there have been fewer marriages in Michigan since 1969. In Branch County, 264 marriages were recorded last year while ten years ago, the number was 576.
