Second divorces on the rise in Belgium

4 September 2007

BRUSSELS – The number of Belgians who divorce for a second time shows a spectacular rise. This emerges from the most recent figures provided by the National Statistics Institute (Nationaal Instituut voor Statistiek).

Although in 1993 only 2,933 Belgians went for a second divorce, this number has risen to 7,207 in ten years, so the figure more than doubled, as reported in Het Laatste Nieuws.

Every year, almost 62,710 people get divorced in Belgium. For one in nine in this group it is the second time around. The rise in the number of ‘doublers’ cannot be explained by the global increase in broken marriages, just under59 percent.

According to relationship therapist Rika Ponnet, the increase in ‘second-time divorces’ is a quite common. “One in three first marriages fails while, in second marriages, this figure rises to one in two. Second marriages are generally less close-knit than the first one.

The ‘real’ reason? People starting a new life carry quite a bit of ‘emotional ballast’ over from their first marriage. So there are the kids, the ex or the lack of a project such as one’s own house, making the second marriage a much more difficult affair”.

Subject: Belgian news